After 36 holes at the NCAA Championships in Owings Mills, Md., the Blue Devils are all alone in 12th place, 20 strokes off the impressive pace being set by UCLA.
All five Duke players performed better Wednesday than they had Tuesday, and the team carded a 301, a seven-shot improvement over its score the day before.
"I just get a good feeling from the team," head coach Dan Brooks said. "There were some really good, quality shots that went on today. I wish we would have made up more ground but you cannot feel bad about the effort."
Despite the improvement on Day 2, the Bruins' hot play threatened to turn the tournament into a rout. UCLA trailed Denver by two stroke after the first round, but carded a tournament-best 293 Wednesday to take a seven-stroke lead with a score of 13-over par.
On the individual side, senior Amanda Blumenherst set the pace for Duke with a one-over 73, putting her at four-over for the tournament. Blumenherst won the NCAA individual title in 2006 and 2007, but trails UCLA's Maria Jose Uribe by seven strokes with 36 holes still to play.
Blumenherst finished the day in a tie for 14th place.
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