The #10 Middlebury women's golf team used a score of 303 on the penultimate day of the NCAA Championship to ascend to fifth place. The Panthers own a 54-hole score of 893. Top-ranked Emory (870) holds a one-stroke lead over #2 Carnegie Mellon entering Friday's finale, while third-ranked New York University (NYU) slots third (881).

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

• Location: Desert Willow Golf Resort (Palm Desert, Calif.)
• Host School: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges
• Weather: Sunny, 96
• Par: 72
• Yards: 5,883
• Teams Competing: 15

HIGHLIGHTS

• Ella Han continued her sharp showing on the national stage, finishing even with a score of 72. She logged three birdies and shot par or better across the back nine. Entering the final round, Han is tied with NYU's Jiayi Fu for third on the leaderboard.
• Season Wei climbed six spots to tie for 44th place with two other golfers following a 76. The rookie shot a 36 on the back nine, including a birdie on the par-five 13th.
• Julia Hua's 78 concluded the scoring quartet. She found the hole in four shots on the par-five opener and held steady with pars on the third through the ninth. She slots in a share of 26th entering the final round.
• Finishing third among the Middlebury contingent was Elizabeth Whalen, who logged a 77 to grab a share of 47th with Carleton's Anna Lee. Birdies on the 13th and par-three 17th buoyed the effort.
• Cailyn Park finished with six pars and an 89 on the day.

NOTES

• Han (214), Hua (223) and Whalen (229) each erased their prior three-round career-low scores.
• The Panthers totaled seven birdies in the round.
• Middlebury is making its sixth appearance on the national stage.

The Panthers will compete for the national championship as the competition concludes on Friday with the fourth and final round. The squad commences action at 10:50 a.m. EST.