What You Need to Know:

• Georgia State shot rounds of 299 and 301 to open the spring season on Monday at the Amelia Island Collegiate at Amelia National Golf in Fernandina Beach, Fla.
• Junior Chloe Howard and freshman Jenny Marston led the Panthers as each shot 36-hole totals of 3-over par and are tied for 19^th place.
• The Panthers are playing the first of four regular season events this spring leading up to the Sun Belt Conference Championship in April.

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – Led by Chloe Howard and Jenny Marston who both sit among the top 20, the Georgia State women's golf team shot rounds of 299 and 301 on Monday to sit in a tie for eighth place following 36 holes of the Amelia Island Collegiate at Amelia National Golf Club.

Howard shot rounds of 71 and 76, while Marston added rounds of 74 and 73 to both stand at 3-over par and tied for 19^th place entering the final round of play on Tuesday.

Georgia State is tied for eighth place at 24-over but sits just nine strokes out of fourth place entering the final round.

"Today was a solid effort from the team," head coach Jessica Steward said. "We tried focusing more on the process of what will lead us to be successful, and for this course we knew it was especially important to hit greens. Collectively, we averaged 67.0 percent of the green in regulation. We're happy with that.

"Tomorrow will be a very tight but exciting race. Anywhere from fourth to 14^th place is anyone's game on Tuesday. We'll set our goals tonight and if they continue to believe in themselves tomorrow, I believe we should climb up the leaderboard."

Sophomore Emma Berlin added rounds of 78 and 73 on Monday to stand at 7-over par and tied for 38^th. Redshirt-freshman Kelly Strickland added rounds of 76 and 79 and is tied for 56^th at 11-over par. Senior Harmanprit Kaur rounded out the line-up with rounds of 80 and 82 to stand tied for 74^th at 18-over par.

Florida Gulf Coast shot rounds of 286 and 283 to lead the 15-team field at 7-under par with 18 holes to play. North Florida stands in second place at 2-over par, while Stetson is in third place at 5-over par. Western Kentucky sits in fourth place at 15-over par with Jacksonville State rounding out the top five at 16-over par.

Florida Gulf Coast's Haley Yerxa shot rounds of 69 and 66 to stand at 9-under par and hold a three-stroke lead entering the final round. Stetson's Hanna Kiefer is in second place at 6-under par, with Troy's Nicole Lorup in third place at 3-under par. North Florida's Lissette Davalos stands in fourth place at 1-under par, while Western Kentucky's Megan Clarke and Florida Gulf Coast's Alisa Clark are tied for fifth place at even par.

Georgia State will be pair with conference foe Troy and Lipscomb for the final round on Tuesday as part of an 8 a.m. shotgun start.

Live scoring of all three rounds can be found at GolfStat.com. Fans can follow the team on twitter @GSU_WGolf.

Following this week's tournament, Georgia State will travel to Wallace, N.C., for the River Landing Classic March 9-10.