The Eastern women’s golf team made a major improvement in the second round of the Ohio Valley Conference Championships.

The Panthers shot a 313 (+25) on Tuesday after shooting a 337 (+49) in the first round on Monday at the Shoals on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Muscle Shoals, Ala.

They are currently at 650 (+74) and moved to fifth place after finishing seventh after the first round.

The Panthers are six strokes behind fourth-place Samford (644) and 23 strokes behind first-place Jacksonville State (627).

Eastern senior Amy Simons had the lowest score for the Panthers on Tuesday, as she cut 16 strokes off her first-round total to finish the second round with an impressive 76 (+4). Her performance moved her up on the individual chart as she is tied for 27th place.

Simons said not hitting into hazards really improved her score in the second round.

“(Monday) I hit into a lot of hazards, and (Tuesday) I had no penalties,” Simons said.

Simons said despite dropping the 16 strokes, she had mixed emotions about her performance.

“I played the ball well with my driver today,” Simons said. “Still, there were a couple of shots I wish I could have gotten.”

Junior Michelle Anderson shot another good round with a 79, which leaves her with the Panthers best two-day total of 162 (+18) and puts her in a tie for 15th place.

“I was happy with how I played,” Anderson said. “I had some three putts near the end of the round, but other than that I think I played well.”

Anderson said she wants to cut down on three putts in today’s third round.

Junior Carrie Riordan sits only a shot back of Anderson as she finished the day with a 78 for a two-day total of 163, which puts her in a tie for 19th place.

Sophomore Jaymie Voorhees was the only Panther not to improve her day one score as she finished with an 86 (+14).

Anderson said she was pleased by her team’s performance in Tuesday’s round.

“We played a lot better and moved up the leader board,” Anderson said. “Hopefully we can continue that tomorrow and move up even further.”

Jacksonville State freshman Laura Cutler and Murray State sophomore Megan McKinney are tied for first after 36 rounds with a score of 154.

The final round of the tournament begins at 8 a.m. Live scoring of the event can be viewed through the OVC Web site.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.