March 22, 2005

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV women's golf team's three consecutive top ten finishes has the Rebels just outside of the top 25 as they are currently ranked 26th in the country in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index Women's College Ratings.

The Rebels placed eighth at the Wildcat Invitational, fourth at the Spartan Invitational and sixth at their own UNLV Spring Invitational last week to knock on the door of the top 25.

Duke was ranked No. 1, followed by Auburn, UCLA, Washington and Pepperdine. New Mexico was ranked 11th and the Lobos and Rebels were the only two teams from the Mountain West Conference in the top 40.

UNLV is being led by the play of Elena Kurokawa, who has emerged as the Rebels' top player heading into the final part of the season. Kurokawa has three top-10 finishes in her last three tournaments, including a season-best second-place finish at the Spartan Invitational. The junior is averaging 74.13 strokes per round through 24 rounds of play and was named the Mountain West Conference's golfer of the month on March 2.

The Rebels resume play at the BYU Dixie Classic on April 4-5 at St. George, Utah. UNLV will then defend its conference crown at the MWC Championships, which get underway on April 21 at Sun River, Ore.

GOLFWEEK/SAGARIN PERFORMANCE INDEX WOMEN'S TEAM RATINGSAs of Sunday, March 201. Duke2. Auburn3. UCLA4. Washington5. Pepperdine6. Oklahoma State7. Georgia8. Arizona State9. Wake Forest10. Ohio State11. New Mexico12. Tennessee13. Louisiana State14. Florida15. Missouri16. Tulane17. Arkansas18. Southern California19. Arizona20. Stanford21. Furman22. Texas23. Washington State24. Tulsa25. Michigan26. UNLV