The Sacramento State women’s golf team is off to a good start at the Big Sky Championships in Boulder City, Nevada, as the team finished the first day of the tournament in second place, behind Northern Arizona.

The Hornets finished the day with a score of 291 (three over par), a stroke behind the Lumberjacks and four strokes ahead of Idaho. Sophomore Astha Madan was the individual leader for Sac State, finishing the day with a 71, one under par, which tied for second overall in the tournament, despite bogeying the par-five second hole.

Senior Rockelle Sande and junior Chloe Bartek are currently tied for sixth with six other golfers, with a one-over-par round of 73. Sande bogeyed the first hole but moved to one-under with birdies on the par-five fifth hole and par-four seventh hole. However, after bogeying four of the next five holes, she went to three-over before finishing well over her last six holes.

Bartek finished with five straight pars after bogeying the 10th hole and shooting a birdie on the 13th. Freshman Julia Becker, a native of nearby Las Vegas, shot a 74 (two over par) to finish in a tie for 14th place. Sophomore Katie Dunaway finished the first round tied for 42nd with a score of 80.

Northern Arizona’s Kaitlyn Saum and Sierra Bezdicek both shot 71 to tie for second with Madan, while Jaylee Tait of Montana State shot a 69 (three under) to finish with the individual lead. In the top five of the team standings, Idaho (295), Southern Utah (299) and Northern Colorado (302) out the rotation.

Day two of the tournament starts at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, April 19. Live stats are available via http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=9359.