"I think it would be a surprise to everybody else and me," she said. "I hope my game can hold up."
Se Ri Pak, though, looks tough to beat. Twice she missed birdie putts that rolled around the cup, the last on No. 18.
"Those will happen," she said with a shrug.
Jimin Kang (68) and Morgan Pressel (70) were four under and tied for fifth. Pressel had just two birdies.
"I was pretty messy," she said. "I was just trying to hang on."
Angela Stanford hit the shot of the day, scoring an eagle when her wedge shot from 85 yards out hit in front of the pin and dribbled in on the par-4 fourth hole.
That propelled her near the top of the leaderboard until she bogeyed the final three holes, putting her eight shots behind the leader.
"I just started hitting the putts too hard," she said.
Stanford (69) and seven others were tied at 3 under, including U.S. Open champion Cristie Kerr and Canada's Alena Sharp, who was just two shots back coming into the round. Sharp was 3 over on Friday.
Natalie Gulbis, who nearly won last year's tournament in a playoff, just made the cut set at 2 over par. She fell to 6 over on the front nine Friday before reeling off three straight birdies.
Gulbis made a short par putt on her final hole to stay around for the final rounds.
Missing the cut were Paula Creamer and Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez who finished at 19 over.
"I was having an out-of-body experience," said Lopez, a fan favorite who managed to maintain a smile. "I just have to keep trying."
