Werle, whose 77-75--152 has she tied for 19th place, hit nine fairways and 11 greens and had 34 putts in a round that included birdies on two par 5s and one par 3.

The Cobras and head coach John Hackney covered the first nine holes in just 6-over par as a team, then played the tough back nine at 18-over in a light rain. The 24-over-par round helped Coker rise from 10th to 9th in the standings and that 312 was the sixth-best round of the day.

Host Anderson University is way out front in the standings at 5-under par, 30 shots clear of second-place Wingate and 40 strokes ahead of third-place Limestone. Nationally 5th-ranked Anderson has the top four players on the individual leaderboard, led by Kennedy Gooding at 3-under 141.

The Cobras also counted a 77 from sophomore Haylie George, a 78 from freshman Daniella Gyoni and an 81 from junior Mack Taylor Bailey. Grad student Kathleen Escobar shot 82.

Coker notched 11 birdies, with five coming from George, who rebounded from a triple bogey on No. 9 with three birdies on her next four holes. Gyoni had an excellent front nine, firing 1-under with eight straight pars and a birdie on  No. 9. She hit 11 fairways and 11 greens. The highlight of Bailey's round was a 45-foot downhill putt from off the green on No. 9 that dropped for par.

"We got off to a great start in cool conditions today," Hackney said. "The ladies were loose, yet focused, as they moved around the golf course. We just couldn't close it out on the back nine, where we were 10-over par on the final three holes. We were No. 1 in par 3 scoring on Monday at 3.05, so that shows we are striking the ball well.

"We are moving in the right direction (up), and have a chance with a great round on Tuesday to get in the top half of the standings. That is our goal. We played some superb golf today so our plan is to go even lower on Tuesday to finish off our season in style."