STILLWATER, Okla. -- Anna Morgan (+2) and Sophia Burnett (+2) are tied for 10th, while 44th-ranked Furman (+20) is in sixth place Monday following the opening round of the NCAA Stillwater Regional at the par-72, 6,303 yard Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.

A junior from Spartanburg, S.C., Morgan, the 2022 SoCon Player of the Year, birdied three holes and turned at even par then added an additional three birdies on the back, finishing the day with a team-high six birdies to card a 74.

Burnett, a sophomore from Bluffton, S.C., played flawless golf on the front nine.  She birdied No. 6 and turned at 1-under and added a second birdie on No. 18, becoming one of four Paladins to birdie the final hole, to finish at 74.

Morgan and Burnett are five strokes back of Baylor's Britta Snyder (-3) who leads the field by two strokes after firing an opening round 69. 

Freshman Savannah Hylton (+6) tied for 30th after posting a 78 with birdies on No. 14 and No. 18, and senior Kyra Cox (+10) finished the first round in a tie for 49th.  She carded an 82 with a birdie on No. 14.  Senior Sarah-Eve Rhéaume (+12) posted an 84 with birdies on No. 1 and No. 18 to tie for 56th. 

No. 17 Baylor (+4) leads the regional by one stroke over No. 31 Clemson (+5).  No. 6 Oklahoma State (+8) and seventh-ranked Arizona State (+8) are tied for third, while No. 30 Michigan State (+15) is in fifth, just ahead of the Paladins. 

Furman, which will tee off of No. 1 at 8 a.m. on Tuesday and play in a group with No. 7 Arizona State and 30th-ranked Michigan State, is part of an 12-team regional field that is battling for a top four finish and a berth in the 24-team NCAA Championship, which will be held May 20-25 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.  The Stillwater Regional field includes four of the top 25 teams in the country led by host Oklahoma State, which ranks sixth in the latest GolfStat rankings.  

The Paladins, who secured the Southern Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by capturing their 19th SoCon Championship last month at Barefoot Landing Resort's Dye Course in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., are making its 23rd NCAA Regional appearance.  Furman appeared in 17-straight regionals from 1993, when the regional format began, until 2010.  

The Furman team finished ninth at the NCAA Auburn Regional in 2019 in Opelika, Ala., and last season three Paladins qualified as individuals for the NCAA Simpsonville Regional in Simpsonville, Ky.  Morgan turned in a 16th-place finish to lead Furman at the event. 

Live scoring of the NCAA Stillwater Regional is available at http://www.golfstat.com or by logging onto http://www.furmanpaladins.com.

6 Furman 308 +20

T10 Anna Morgan (1) 74 +2

T10 Sophia Burnett (2) 74 +2

T30 Savannah Hylton (5) 78 +4

T49 Kyra Cox (4) 82 +10

T56 Sarah-Eve Rhéaume (3) 84 +12