ISU Extends Lead Heading to Final Day at MVC Championship
WATERLOO, Ill. – The Illinois State women's golf team has extended their lead over the field at the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Championship to 20 strokes with 18 holes to play, as the Birds look to be the first school to win back-to-back conference titles since the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
The Redbirds have each of their five golfers tied for 10th or better in the field, lead by Jinyoung Yun and Elise Fennell who are each tied for second individually. In the second round, ISU shot a 289, tied for the third-lowest score in MVC Championship history, and the Birds now have two of the five lowest Championship single-round scores in conference history.
ISU's 579 out-distances Southern Illinois and Drake's 599, as Bradley (600), Missouri State (602), Evansville (606), Northern Iowa (615), Murray State (616), Belmont (617), UIC (619), Indiana State (632), and Valparaiso (648) chase behind.
Lory Paradis – who is tied for 10th individually through 36 holes – had a team-low 71 during the round, as she had five birdies and nine pars during the round.
Yun and Fennell each had even-par 72's during the round, Yun with two birdies and 14 pars, while Fennell had three birdies and 12 pars.
Morgan Jones had a two-over round with 16 pars and is tied for fifth, while Jessica Jolly – behind her second-round 76 – is tied for eighth. In her round, Jolly had two birdies and 11 pars.
The Redbirds make their chase for their second straight championship, and third over the past four years, starting at 9:50 a.m. tomorrow morning when Paradis tees off for the Birds, with Jolly (10:00 a.m.), Jones (10:10 a.m.), Fennell (10:20 a.m.), and Yun (10:30 a.m.) following behind.
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