NCAA Women's: USC, Duke still close entering final day

BRADENTON, Fla. — Third-round play will conclud early Monday morning, with top teams USC and Duke still having as many as five holes to play at the NCAA Women's National Championship. Making a move to pull within two of USC at the tournament's halfway point was Duke on early Sunday morning, and the deficit will be three for the defending champions as they tournament moves to the final day. With the second round suspended until Sunday due to lightning, USC overtook Duke for the lead on day two of the NCAA Women's National Championship. The first round spilled over into Saturday, and the second round was delayed until the next day, as well. The leading Trojans had anywhere from four to seven holes remaining Sunday morning while all of Duke's players had three holes or less to play. Even-par on her third round through 13 holes is USC junior Annie Park, who in total is two over and in third place for the tournament individually, two back of Alabama's Emma Talley, who is finished at even-par 216. First-round leader Mariah Stackhouse of Stanford posted 78 on Saturday, 10 strokes higher than her opening-round 68, followed by 75 on Sunday and fell back to a tie for eighth place. The third round will resume Monday morning at 7:30 EST, with final-round play beginning shortly after.