RAPID CITY, S.D. - Oklahoma City University enters the final round of the NAIA women's golf championships trailing by one stroke to British Columbia through 54 holes Thursday at Meadowbrook Golf Course.

The second-ranked Stars will seek their sixth consecutive national championship when the fourth round tees off Friday morning.

OCU had a 308-302-314-924, while fourth-ranked British Columbia led with a 301-311-311-923.

Lubbock Christian stood in fifth place with a 317-311-324-952. Anna Schopp of Lubbock Christian tied for 10th place with a 73-76-84-233. Southern Nazarene had a 325-345-330-1,000 led by Andrea Rojas' 78-78-81-237.

"We will be playing the course and make that our biggest opponent," OCU coach M.J. Desbiens said. "We hope to finish well with that mindset. We had a tough start Thursday, and I think we got a little ahead of ourselves."

Laura Jones of the Stars sat two strokes off the pace with a 76-74-77-227. Nathalie Silva of California Baptist held the individual lead with a 74-76-75-225.

Jones, a junior from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England, started her round Thursday off with a double bogey, but got the strokes back with birdies on the par-4, 359-yard third hole and the par-3, 137-yard seventh hole. Jones had three bogeys and a double bogey the rest of the way.

"Laura has been playing very steady and has made some very good decisions out there," Desbiens said. "I'm proud of her work and of everyone else's, too."

OCU's Morgan Gay had seventh place with a 76-76-79-231. Gay, a senior from Lindsay, Okla., birdied the par-3, 156-yard 17th hole while recording six bogeys and a double bogey.

Paige Martin of OCU moved into a tie for eighth by carding a 79-75-78-232. Martin, a junior from Ardmore, Okla., knocked in birdies on the par-4, 363-yard eighth hole and the par-4, 312-yard 16th hole. Martin had eight bogeys and no double bogeys.

Taylor Howard of the Stars stayed in contention for all-tournament honors with a 77-77-80-234. Howard, a freshman from Ada, Okla., was tied for 15th, which would make all-tournament. Howard sank birdies on the par-4, 369-yard fourth hole and the seventh hole. She also had eight bogeys and a double bogey.

The Stars' Tanya Tibshraeny had an 81-77-81-239. Tibshraeny made birdies on the par-5, 468-yard fifth hole and the par-5, 471-yard 15th hole. Tibshraeny had five bogeys and three double bogeys.

The temperature reached 82 degrees, and the wind was 9 mph on the par-72, 6,000-yard course Thursday. The forecast for the final round calls for a high temperature of 90 degrees, winds 10-20 mph and a 30 percent chance of rain.