TUCSON, Ariz.--- The Biola women's golf team ended their first round of the Desert Invite at the Lodge at Ventana Canyon. 

At the end of the tournament's first day, the Eagles landed in the top half of the field. Biola totaled a team score of 328 which placed them ninth of 20 teams. 

BU faced another competitive field of teams which included four nationally-ranked teams by the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) and two that are receiving votes. The ranked teams were No. 7 West Texas A&M, No. 15 Cal State Monterey Bay, No. 18 Point Loma, and No. 25 University of Arkansas Fort Smith. Cal State East Bay and Saint Mary's (TX) are currently receiving votes. 

Ahead of the Eagles was first place Cal State East Bay (318), second Point Loma (318), third Colorado State-Pueblo (320), fourth West Texas A&M (323), fifth MSU Denver (325), tied for sixth Midwestern State and Angelo (326), and eighth Wayne State MI (327). 

The second round is still anyone's game as none of the top 14 teams are leading the team trailing them by more than three strokes. Biola is one stroke away from the eighth team and just two behind the two teams tied for sixth.

The Eagles top scorer today was Jessica Cornelius. Cornelius led BU with a scorecard of 81 which tied her for 26th overall.

Rachel Shaw and Emily Cons were Biola's next best on the leaderboard. Shaw and Cons both recorded 82 and were tied for 34th.

Melanie Reyes and Brady Turnquist were BU's final golfers, who also received matching scores of 83 which tied them for 39th.

Cornelius and Reyes had the fifth-most pars in the field. Half of their holes resulted in par throughout the first round. Cornelius also recorded a birdie in her first round along with Turnquist.

Biola begins their second round tomorrow at 8 a.m.