FAYETTEVILLE — Senior Alana Uriell led a record-breaking Day 2 surge for the No. 3 Arkansas Razorbacks women's golf team, which rocketed past host Texas to take an 11-shot lead into Wednesday's final round of the NCAA Austin Regional.
The Razorbacks posted a team score of 17 under on Tuesday, crushing the school record for a regional, and are at 21 under for the three-round tournament at the University of Texas Golf Club.
Uriell's 7-under par 65 broke the school record for a regional of 67, jointly held by Uriell and Emma Lavy.
Though Uriell shot the best round of the tournament, her teammates tore up the course as well, with Dylan Kim, Maria Fassi and Kaylee Benton all under par and in second, third and fourth place behind leader Maddie Szeryk of Texas A&M. The Razorbacks' 17 under was the best round of the regional by 10 strokes, and 12 shots better than the school record of 5 under posted by the 2013 team.
No. 8 Texas is in second place at 10 under, followed by No. 14 Florida (+2) and a four-way tie between No. 21 Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Baylor and Virginia Tech at 5 over. The top six teams will advance to the 24-team NCAA championships in two weeks in Stillwater, Okla.
Uriell carded eight birdies en route to a 7-under 65 that moved her up 62 spots to a tie for 15th place in the medalist race. The senior from Carlsbad, Calif., leads the field with 10 birdies, one more than Benton, Fassi and Michigan State's Sarah Burnham. Uriell was one of four Razorbacks to shoot under par on Tuesday.
Kim, a junior who transferred from Baylor, had a bogey-free 68 and is alone in second place, a shot behind Szeryk. Kim had birdies on Nos. 5, 7, 9 and 17.
Fassi, the SEC runner up, had a wild day that included two eagles, two birdies and a double bogey en route to a 2-under 70. She is one shot behind Kim and one shot ahead of Benton.
Also a junior, Benton posted five birdies and one bogey and carded a 68 to grab sole possession of fourth.
Junior Cara Gorlei opened the round with a birdie on the par 4 first hole, as did Benton, Uriell and Fassi, but she lost ground with a double bogey on No. 7 and finished at 3 over for the day. Gorlei is tied for 39th place at 4 over for the tournament.
The Razorbacks' round was one of five under par on Tuesday and 11 shots better than Oklahoma, whose 6 under was the second-best round of the day. While the Razorbacks and Sooners surged, No. 11 Michigan State shot 16 over to fall seven spots and in danger of not qualifying for the NCAAs.