PITTSGROVE, N.J. — Sophomore Katie Yang (Orlando, Fla.) recorded the best round of her career with a 2-under 70, and the 22nd-ranked Babson College women's golf team shot its lowest score of the season to build a 12-stroke lead after round one of the Colonial Women's Golf Conference (CWGC) Championship on Monday afternoon at Running Deer Golf Club.

The Beavers ended the day with an 8-over-par 296 as they look to capture their second consecutive conference title. Christopher Newport University is second at 20-over-par 308, while Salisbury University is a distant third at 44-over-par 332 at the midway point of the tournament.

Yang's round of 70, which matched the low score and the lowest score relative to par in program history, included an eagle and three birdies. Even through seven holes, she made a double bogey on the par-4 eighth before responding with a birdie on the short par-5 ninth to make the turn at 1-over.

Yang got back to even par with a birdie at No. 13 and then eagled the par-5 17th hole to finish the day at 2-under, four shots ahead of Gabi McGehee of Christopher Newport and Krista Brosius of Salisbury.

Junior Camila Amaya (Singer Island, Fla.) and first-year Anita Wang (Phoenix, Ariz.) are both five shots behind Yang at 3-over after shooting 75 in the opening round. Amaya birdied the par-4 17th and played her final 12 holes in even par, while Wang made three of her four birdies over the final nine holes.

Sophomore Francesca Choquette (New York, N.Y.) made three birdies over her final seven holes to shoot a 76 and is tied for sixth place at 4-over. Sophomore Vanya Bansal (Noida, India.), who claimed medalist honors at the inaugural CWGC Championship last season, birdied No. 16 to move into a tie for seventh place with a 5-over 77.

Final-round play will begin at 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

TOURNAMENT NOTES
•    Babson's score of 296 is two shots better than its first round at the Polar Bear Shootout on September 12 and is the program's lowest total since finishing at 295 in the final round of the Camp Lejeune Intercollegiate on April 6, 2025. 
•    Yang joined Bansal, who has done it twice, as the only players in Beavers' history to finish a round at 2-under, and is one of four players along with Bansal, Laura Lu '27 and Alice Zhu to shoot 70 over the first four years of the program. 
•    Yang, Bansal and Choquette all finished 1-under on the par 3s, Wang was first in the 30-player field in par-4 scoring at 1-under, and both Yang (-2) and Choquette (-1) were among three players to finish under par on the par 5s.