EAST LANSING, Mich. --The Arizona women's golf team began their national title defense with a solid performance in the opening round of NCAA Regionals play on Monday at Forest Akers West Golf Course . The Wildcats finished the first day at 2-over-par, good for solo second. The Cats are eight shots out of the lead set by Kent State.
 
Senior Bianca Pagdanganan paced the Cats, using an eagle on the par-5 13th to shoot a first-round 71 (-1). Pagdanganan also carded birdies on the par-4 fifth hole and the par-five 17th. She shot a 1-under 35 on the front and an even-par 36 on the back. 

Sophomore Yu-Sang Hou collected three birdies on the back nine to post an even-par score. She finished the back nine with a 34, including birdies on 11, 14 and 17. Junior Sandra Nordaas was the first one out on the course for the Cats Monday morning, and she delivered with an opening round of 73 (+1). Nordaas cardies birdies on No. 4, 9 and 13. Senior Haley Moore ended the day at 2-over and freshman Ya Chun Chang was one back of her at 3-over. 

"It was a good day for the Wildcats," said head coach Laura Ianello. "I was so proud of the way the ladies finished today. We finished with a lot of birdies on hole No. 17 and all pars on 18, which is a very difficult hole. Bianca and Money gave us a lot of momentum with their eagles on hole 13. Haley Moore played really well as did Sandra Nordaas. Yu-Sang Hou, who is feeling very ill, was able to fight hard and finish her round on a really solid note. I told the ladies to keep their intensity high. It's an NCAA regional so there will be a lot of good teams that will come up from behind us so we need to keep the pedal down and the momentum going."

The top six teams in the regional will move onto the NCAA Championships in two weeks. Round two will begin Tuesday at 5 a.m. MST.
 
For more information about the Arizona women's golf team, follow @ArizonaWGolf on Twitter and at ArizonaWildcats.com.
 
Team Leaderboard
1. Kent State (-6)
2. Arizona (+2)
3. Illinois (+4)
T4. Indiana (+5)
T4. Michigan State (+5)
6. Campbell (+6)
7. UCLA (+8)
T8. Stanford (+10)
T8. Baylor (+10)
10. Xavier (+11)
11. Augusta (+14)
12. LSU (+16)
13. Louisville (+17)
T14. Georgia (+18)
T14. North Carolina (+18)
16. Long Beach State (+19)
17. Harvard (+21)
18. IUPUI (+28)
 
Player Leaderboard
T6. Bianca Pagdanganan (-1)
T14. Yu-Sang Hou (E)
T21. Sandra Nordaas (+1)
T29. Haley Moore (+2)
T35. Ya Chun Chang (+3)