Oregon moves to the top at the Northrop Grumman Challenge

Ranked third nationally in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings and as high as second in other polls, the Oregon Ducks came into the Northrop Grumman Challenge as the highest-ranked team in a heavyweight field.

After 36-holes, the Ducks are in a strong position to win their third tournament of the season but will have to hold off two other top-five teams in No. 8 Virginia, led by former Oregon head coach Ria Scott and No. 5 Wake Forest.

Four of Oregon's five players shot under par on Monday to compile the 5-under 279 and at 2-under 566, the Ducks lead Virginia by a single stroke and are six shots clear of Wake Forest. Arizona State is nine back at 7-over while first-round leader Kent State dropped to fifth at 8-over 576.

Junior Ching-Tzu Chen carded a bogey-free 69 while the trio of Tze-Han (Heather) Lin, Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu and Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen all fired 1-under rounds of 70 to round out Oregon's counting scores.

Lu and Nielsen are tied for seventh at 1-under par overall, seven strokes behind 36-hole leader Rachel Kuehn of Wake Forest who carded a second consecutive 67 on Monday to move to 8-under 134. She enjoys a three-stroke lead over a trio of Virginia players in Beth Lillie, Jennifer Cleary and Riley Smyth, along with Carolina Melgrati of Arizona and Auburn's Julie McCarthy, who is playing as an individual.

Tuesday's final round will begin with a shotgun start at 8:00 a.m. PT. Oregon will be paired with Virginia, Wake Forest and Arizona State.