Benita Paces Cats in Day One of ASU Invitational

TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona Women's Golf's opening round at the ASU Invitational saw the team finish in ninth place at 7-over par out of a field of 16 teams. The Wildcats were led by sophomore Maya Benita who shot even par, which put her in a tie for 17th. Freshman Lilas Pinthier finished one stroke behind her teammate at 1-over and in a tie for 26th.

"Our team hung tough today throughout a challenging day on course that saw only 25 percent of the field break par," said head coach Laura Ianello. "Maya and Lilas were steady and consistent in their rounds to pace us while the rest of our lineup had stretches of quality scores in their rounds. I look forward to seeing that consistency carry over into tomorrow's round."

Arizona is part of a pack of eight teams separated by a total of nine strokes on the leaderboards. Tournament hosts, Arizona State, lead all teams at 8-under par and have a five-stroke edge over second-place Stanford.

The Wildcats will tee off in their second round of the ASU Invitational on Saturday morning.