BOULDER CITY, Nev. – UIC had a bit of a rough go during the first round of the Battle at Boulder Creek in less than ideal conditions, but the Flames bounced back and shaved 14 strokes off the team score in the afternoon to finish the first day of the 54-hole event in fifth place at 646.

Head coach Mat Blair's bunch came in at 330, 50-over par, fifth-best among the six teams in the field. In the afternoon, UIC made the biggest turnaround in the field by posting a second-round score that was 14 shots better than the first at 316. The second round mark was the team's best since it posted a 315 in the third round of the NKU Fall Classic on Sept. 11.

"The conditions got to us a little bit in the morning," said Blair. "Despite that, Kelly [Sterling] got off to a great starts and played really well. Meghan [Kramp] also had a nice start to her day.

"In the afternoon, Stephanie [Mroz] really stepped up and shot a 75," added Blair. "Claudia also improved quite a bit to give us a boost."

Kelly Sterling got off to a strong start Monday morning. She began her round on the fifth hole and made par on her first five holes. Sterling carded her first birdie of the day on the par-3 17^th hole and she made another on the par-4 second hole. The Mokena, Ill., native finished her round at 4-over par, 76, to finish tied for eighth after the first round. She shot 7-over par 79 in the second round and she enters the final day in a tie for 12^th place, 14 strokes behind the leader, Elizabeth Prior of UNLV.

Sterling is tied for fourth in the field of 37 golfers in par-3 scoring with an average mark of 3.00. She was second on the Flames with three birdies in the two rounds.
Perhaps no player better embodied UIC's second-round surge than freshman Stephanie Mroz. After shooting 15-over par 87 in round one, the Oak Park, Ill., native carded a 3-over par 75 in the second session. Mroz was tied for 32^nd after round one and she shot up to a tie for 21^st. That was tied with Southern Illinois' Lillian Klekner-Alt for the day's largest leap. Mroz tallied a team-high four birdies on Monday.

Meghan Kramp and Shivani Majmudar were fairly consistent throughout the first day. Kramp shot 81-80, while Majmudar went 87-86. Kramp nearly mirrored the average score for a round at Boulder Creek on Monday, 80.58. Competing as an individual, Adrienne Montalone was also nearly constant with marks of 85-83 on her scorecard.

Similar to Mroz Claudia Stampa made a second-round improvement by posting a score that improved by nine strokes. She shot 9-over par 81 in the spin around the course.
"We played much better in our second round, but we weren't able to make up too much ground," said Blair. "If we continue tomorrow the way we finished today we should be able to put some pressure on Weber State and try to get into fourth place."

The final round of the Battle at Boulder Creek is slated to begin Tuesday with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. The Flames will begin the final round 12 shots behind Weber State and 19 shots in front of LIU.

UIC Scores
5^th – UIC: 330-316
T12^th – Kelly Sterling: 76-79-155
T19^th – Meghan Kramp: 80-81-161
T21^st – Stephanie Mroz: 87-75-162
26^th – Adrienne Montalone*: 85-83-168
31^st – Claudia Stampa: 90-81-171
33^rd – Shivani Majmudar: 87-86-173
 
* competing as an individual