YPSILANTI, Mich. – Thursday's second round of the NAIA women's golf national championship came down to the final putt of the day, one that kept the University of Pikeville above the cut line and on to Friday's final round.
 
While the team will be involved in the finale, senior Renee Crooks will have a say in who wins the singles championship as she enters play two strokes out of the lead.
 
UPike will begin teeing off on Friday morning at 7:30 a.m.
 
The Bears were fighting an uphill battle after opening the tournament on Tuesday in sub-par weather conditions and then needing to come back to complete the round early Wednesday morning.
 
Needing two days to complete the opening round resulted in the tournament being trimmed from 72 holes to a 54-hole event.
 
They left the course 27^th in the 30-team field, but by the end of the opening round, had moved up to 23^rd. By the time they teed off on Thursday, the Bears had moved above the cut line.
 
They stayed above it all day.
 
As a result, all four teams from the AAC advanced to the final round of play. The league was one of only two in the country to put four teams in the field.
 
The Bears qualified for the final round thanks to recording a tie for 15^th place in the 30-team field. The top 15 plus ties advance in the tournament.
 
The advancement for UPike came down to the ninth hole, the final one for the Bears after starting the afternoon on the 10^th hole.
 
Junior Tayla Howroyd's third shot on the par 5, 485-yard hole landed in the green side bunker. She chipped onto the green and needed to two-putt to move the team into 15^th place alone and advance, putting the Bears in a tie with Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), allowing both teams to advance to Friday's final round.
 
Howroyd finished the day with a 79, giving her a two-round score of 165.
 
Crooks, the senior from Toronto, led the Bears with a two-over par 74 on Thursday. She enters play Friday at 5-over par, alone in sixth place in the field of 159 players who have competed in the event to this point.
 
On Friday, she had two birdies to reach her 74.
 
Freshman Keira Howroyd had a very solid day on Thursday, finishing at 77. She got off to a fast start with a birdie on the par-5, 485-yard 10^th hole. She is 18-over for the tournament.
 
Senior Carly Crooks shot 8-over 80 on Thursday. She closed out the back nine, the first holes of the day for the Bears, with a birdie on the 340-yard par-4 18^th hole.
 
Graduate student Lauren Holmes was 12-over par. She birdied the par-3, 120-yard sixth hole.