After 36 holes, the ISU women’s golf team found itself in seventh place Monday. But by the end of Tuesday, the Cyclones had finished in second place at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate tournament in Highland Ranch, Colo.

Behind the play of co-captain Louise Kenney, who continued her strong play with a three-round 224, good enough for fourth place, the Cyclones shot a day’s best 300 to finish with a team score of 909, only one stroke back of champion San Francisco.

Iowa State played in less than favorable conditions for its 18 holes Tuesday,

“The second day was just incredible,” coach Julie Manning said. “The weather was among the worst I had seen my players in. But we made our minds up in the van that we were going to give it everything we had in those conditions, and we did it.”

Brigham Young, Colorado State and host Denver rounded out the top five, and Hannah Hoch of Colorado took the medal with a 54-hole score of 218. Iowa State stayed consistent with rounds of 303, 306 and 300, playing best on the final day when the stakes were highest.

“We really pulled together for that final round 300, which was the best of the day,” Manning said. “From a team perspective, that was the strongest we’ve played yet.”

After Kenney, sophomore Christi Athas shot 225 and ended tied for seventh place. Lisa Meshke tied for 11th with a 227, freshman Kendra Hanson finished tied for 40th with a 237 and Karly Pinder rounded out the team with a 239, tied for 49th place.

The Cyclones also brought along an individual player, Stephanie Nelson, who carded a 235 and tied for 34th place in the tournament. Nelson will continue on with the team to its next tournament in Texas, and Pinder will return to Ames.

“Steph did a great job as an individual, and she deserves the chance to play with the team in Texas,” Manning said. “This isn’t taking anything away from [Pinder], though, because this was only her first tournament. We will continue to look for her to play in the future.”

Iowa State will conclude its road trip during the weekend at Lubbock, Texas, in the Jeannie McHaney Invitational Tournament. It starts Friday.

In Lubbock, Manning looks for the competition to go up a notch, but also for her team to play stronger.

This will be one of Iowa State’s only play against some of the Big 12 teams before the conference race heats up in the spring.

The tournament, held at the newly opened Rawls Course, will include an 18-team field consisting of Kansas State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Baylor, Nebraska and Texas Tech (who will field two teams) from the Big 12. Southern Methodist, Arkansas State, New Mexico State, Notre Dame, Xavier, Sam Houston State, Oral Roberts, Arkansas, Texas Christian and Tulsa round out the field.

The Rawls course will be a challenge for the Cyclones, but a pleasant one. Golfweek magazine recently ranked the course the third-best collegiate-owned course, behind the Williams College and Yale University home courses. Kansas State had the only other top 15 course in the Big 12.

“We have the momentum right now, and the kids are playing well,” Manning said.

“Having them alone on the road will keep us focused, and they love 18-18-18 tourneys more than the 36-18 format.”

Manning said it will be important to get off to a good start. Oklahoma may be the team to beat at this point, but there are plenty who look like they could surprise, she said.

“[Tuesday] we could have played with any team in the country,” Manning said. “So who knows? We might be the surprise team of the Big 12.”