Stephanie Meadow remains in the top 10 and is four shots off the leading trio ahead of the final round at the Blue Bay LPGA in China.
The Antrim native carded a third-round 70 to move up to eight under in a tie for seventh with South Korea's Sei-Young Kim.
Bailey Tardy, Lydia Ko and Sarah Schmelzel are on 12 under, with the former two posting 66s and the latter with a 69.
USA's Schmelzel had shared the overnight lead on nine under with South Korean Narin An, who slipped back to five under and a tie for 12th.
Starting on six under, Meadow birdied eight before a bogey on the 10th dropped her back.
However, she finished strongly with further birdies on 13 and 18 to leave herself within striking distance of the leaders ahead of Sunday's final round at the course on Hainan Island off China's southern coastline.
At the top of the leaderboard, Schmelzel's 69 was her third straight round in the 60s as she looks for her first LPGA Tour win.
Ko, a 20-time tour winner from New Zealand, started with four birdies and an eagle on the front nine. A bogey on No. 10 and two birdies on the back nine left her at 12-under 204 for the tournament.
Tardy scattered four birdies before an eagle on the par-5 No 14, while Schmelzel had an up-and-down round of five birdies and two bogeys.
The trio takes a two-shot lead into the final round over China's Ruixin Liu,who shot a 69 to stand at 10 under. Savannah Grewal of Canada fired the day's low round of 64 to land in tie for fifth with Australia's Minjee Lee (70) at nine under.
Grewal's 64 set an 18-hole tournament record.
Additional reporting: Reuters
