March 11, 2002

MENIFEE, Calif. - Playing the first 36 holes of the Pioneer Electronics Bruin Classic on Monday, the UNLV women's golf team shot its best team round of the year and climbed to eighth place at the Menifee Lake Country Club.

The Rebels (312-305--617) trimmed seven strokes off their morning total for one of the top improvements in the 16-team field and moved ahead four spots, firing a season best 17-over par in the day's late round. All eight individual scores figured into UNLV's Monday total were under 80.

"Anytime you have a 36-hole day, it's important to stay both mentally and physically strong," head coach Kelley Hester said. "And, today was probably the hottest day that we've competed in this year. The team did a really good job of taking care of themselves so they could finish strong. If you don't eat or drink enough during the day, that last nine can get pretty hard, but we stayed focused and grinded it out."

UNLV trails Pepperdine, the second-round leader, by 25 strokes, but sits ahead of Mountain West rival BYU and is just eight shots behind San Diego State.

Pepperdine holds a four-stroke lead over host UCLA because of the impressive play of Katherine Hull and Lindsey Wright. The duo is tied for the individual lead at one-under par.

The Rebels also were led by a pair of players. Talented freshman Hwanhee Lee and junior Erin Borcherts are tied with two other players for 33rd place at nine-over par. Lee cut five strokes off her morning 79, shooting 74 in the nightcap. Borcherts carded rounds of 76 and 77.

Aside from the usual course conditions, Tina Mabanta also battled a nosebleed, but managed to finish just one stroke behind her teammates after rounds of 78 and 76.

Christine Hentzner sits in a three-way tie for 53rd place, shooting 79 and 78 to finish the day at 13-over par, and Autumn Monteiro is tied for 76th at 21-over following an 84-81 day.

The Rebels will play the final round of the tournament at an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start on Tuesday.