Oct. 22, 2011

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. --- Milena Savich played her final five holes at 4-under en route to a career-best 67 in Saturday's second round of the Mercedes-Benz SEC/PAC 12 Challenge.

In the process, the senior from Carmel, Ind., climbed from 23rd to third in the individual field and also pushed the No. 15-ranked Bulldogs from 15th to 10th on the team leaderboard.

As a team, Georgia played the last six holes at 5-under to finish with a 4-over 292 at Holston Hills Country Club.

"With about six holes to play, I told (assistant coach) Jeff (Hull) that will really needed to dig in and finish," head coach Kelley Hester said. "We certainly did that. I'm very proud of the way we finished. If we can keep that momentum going into tomorrow, we could put up a score that would push us up even more."

Georgia also counted a 74 from Emilie Burger, a 75 from Marta Silva Zamora and a 76 from Rocio Sanchez Lobato.

The Bulldogs teed off from No. 10 and played the back side first. Savich turned at 1-under after a birdie at No. 11 and eight pars. She moved to 2-under with a birdie at No. 1 but immediately conceded that stroke with a bogey at No. 2. Savich then birdied No. 5, eagled No. 7 and birdied No. 9.

"I'm very proud of Milena," Hester said. "This has kinda been a long time coming. She's worked very hard and I knew that it would pay off. It obviously showed up today. I think days like to today may come more often."

Savich bettered her previous low of 69 recorded three times. The 67 also matched the seventh-best loop in Georgia history.

No. 6 Alabama moved ahead of top-ranked UCLA atop the team lead. The Crimson Tide is at 573, five shots better than the Bruins at 578. Rounding out the top-10 teams are No. 2 Auburn at 582, Tennessee at 583, No. 7 Vanderbilt at 586, No. 10 Southern Cal at 593, Ole Miss at 595, Colorado and No. 9 Washington at 596 and the Bulldogs and No. 12 Florida at 597.

Tennessee's Nathalie Mansson and Alabama's Stephanie Meadow are tied individually at 5-under 139, a stroke better than Savich and Lauren Stratton of Vanderbilt.

Also for Georgia, Burger is tied for 29th at 148, Silva Zamora is tied for 52nd at 151, Sanchez Lobato is tied for 92nd at 158 and Tess Fordham is tied for 116th at 168.

Live scoring updates throughout Sunday's final round will be available at www.golfstat.com.

Mercedes-Benz SEC/Pac-12 Challenge
Holston Hill Country Club
Knoxville, Tenn.
Par 72; 6447 Yard

Saturday's Second-Round Standings

Team Leaderboard
Alabama                                 284-289=573
UCLA                                    281-297=578
Tennessee                               291-286=582
Auburn                                  296-286=583
Vanderbilt                              296-290=586
Southern Cal                            298-295=593
Ole Miss                                301-294=595
Colorado                                295-301=596
Washington                              295-301=596
Georgia                                 305-292=597
Florida                                 298-299=597
Arizona                                 296-303=599
Arizona State                           300-301=601
Cal                                     299-302=601
Oregon                                  301-300=601
LSU                                     307-295=602
Arkansas                                304-303=606
Stanford                                300-308=608
Oregon State                            313-300=613
South Carolina                          310-305=615
Kentucky                                312-303=615
Washington State                        312-309=621
Mississippi State                       317-310=627

Individual Leaderboard
Nathalie Mansson, Tennessee             73-67=139
Stephanie Meadow, Alabama               68-71=139
Milena Savich, Georgia                  73-67=140
Lauren Stratton, Vanderbilt             68-72=140
Giulia Molinaro, Arizona State          72-70=142
Hannah Collier, Alabama                 70-73=143
Stephanie Kono, UCLA                    69-74=143
Erynne Lee, UCLA                        70-73=143
Kaitlyn Rohrback, Tennessee             71-72=143
Ashleigh Albrecht, Kentucky             70-74=144
Marina Alex, Vanderbilt                 74-70=144
Emily Tubert, Arkansas                  75-69=144

Georgia Scores
 T29. Emilie Burger, Georgia            74-74=148
 T52. Marta Silva Zamora, Georgia       76-75=151
 T92. Rocio Sanchez Lobato, Georgia     82-76=158
T116. Tess Fordham, Georgia             82-86=168