ST. CHARLES, Mo. – South Dakota compiled a two-round score of 610 (304-306) in the first day of action at the Diane Daugherty Invite. USD sat near the top of the leaderboard all day and is in contention for a tournament win with one round to go. The Coyotes are in second place after two rounds and are 13 strokes behind first place Missouri State. Individually, South Dakota has three players in the top six in Laerke Jensen, Akari Hayashi, and Molly Fossen after the first day.
 
Jensen shot a 2-over par 73 in round one thanks in part to back-to-back birdies in her final two holes of the opening 18. She recorded an error-free back nine by carding all pars on holes 10-18. In the second round, Jensen sank two more birdies on her way to a 4-over par 75. The senior from Hobro, Denmark, is in fourth place individually and is in position for her highest finish of the season.
 
Hayashi started her first round with a birdie on her opening hole and sank one more en route to a 4-over 75 in the opening round. She duplicated her first round for another 4-over par 75 in the second round of the day and tallied two more birdies including the penultimate hole of the day. Hayashi is in fifth place with an 8-over par total and, like Jensen, is in position for her highest individual placement of the season.
 
After setting a new career-low round of 74 in the previous tournament, Fossen replicated that with another 74 in the opening round. She carded four birdies in the first round including two of her last four holes. Fossen followed the 74 with a 6-over 77 in her second trip around the course. She sank a birdie on her third hole of the second round and her last hole of the round to bring her total to six birdies after the first day. After tying for 10th place in her last tournament, Fossen is looking to break her previous best finish as she sits in 6th place with one round to go.
 
Paige Hoffman bounced back after an 81 in round one with a 5-over 76 in the second round. The 76 is three strokes off her career best as a Coyote. She recorded her lone birdie of the day on the par-four 11th hole in round two. The freshman is in contention for her first top-20 placement of her career as she is in a tie for 17th place after the first two rounds.
 
Emma Sabbagh managed to squeeze into the tournament as a late addition and completed her first rounds of the spring. Sabbagh recorded an 80 in round one and an 83 in the second. She carded a birdie in round one and two in the second round. The senior is in a tie for 43rd place with a 21-over par total score.
 
Danica Badura shot an 86 in the first round and improved in round two with an 8-over 79 in round two. She sank her only birdie of the day on the par-three 13th hole in her first round. Badura is in a tie for 49th place after day one.
 
Megan Munneke is in a tie for 59th place after the first day of action. Munneke shot an 82 in the opening round and an 86 in the second round.
 
The Coyotes will continue their pursuit of their first tournament win of the season tomorrow morning. The final 18 holes is set to shotgun start at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday from Bogey Hills Golf Club.