SOUTHWICK, Mass.—First-year Vanya Bansal (Noida, India) matched her low score of the spring with a 2-over 74 and is tied for 10th place after the first round of the Northeast Invitational at The Ranch Golf Club on Saturday afternoon. 

The Beavers shot 320 on Saturday and are in seventh place in a field that features seven teams ranked among the top 21 in the latest Scoreboard Division III rankings. No. 13 Middlebury and No. 5 Amherst are tied atop the leaderboard at 6-over after shooting 294 on Saturday, while No. 4 Williams is three shots back at 9-over. 

Bansal made two birdies and four bogeys in round one and is part of a crowded leaderboard that features 18 players within five shots of Euna Lee of Williams, Kiran Bagga of Hamilton and Joelle Kim of Amherst, who all finished at 2-under on Saturday. First-year Katie Yang (Orlando, Fla.) made one birdie and closed with a double-bogey on the way to shooting a 6-over 78 that has her tied for 26th position, while sophomore Hannah McCarthy (Toronto, Ontario) played her final eight holes in 1-over to move into a tie for 31st at 7-over after shooting a 79. 

Sophomore Molly McCarthy (Toronto, Ontario) bounced back from a tough start by playing her final seven holes in 3-over to post an opening round 89. 

Babson will begin final round play at the Northeast Invitational on Sunday at 10:18 a.m.