April 23, 2005
SUNRIVER, Ore. - UNLV women's golf team fought wet, rainy conditions and a stubborn New Mexico team throughout Saturday's final round but emerged as Mountain West Conference Champions for the second consecutive year.
Elena Kurokawa led the way for the Rebels, firing a final-round 72 (+1) to win medalist honors, marking the first time that the junior has won a title in her UNLV career. Kurokawa's win was also the second-straight time that a Rebel won medalist honors at the MWC champions, as Sunny Oh won last year.
The winner of the Mountain West Conference Tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and the Rebels will find out Monday where they will play in the NCAA Regionals.
"We were really confident coming into the tournament, especially after our win at the BYU Dixie Classic," said UNLV head coach Missy Ringler. "We wanted to win the title again and everyone did what we needed to do. I am very proud of our team."
UNLV finished the tournament with a team score of 898 (+46), finishing two strokes ahead of No. 12 New Mexico, which carded a total of 900 (+48). The Rebels entered the final round with a one shot lead over the Lobos and UNLV shot a final round 305 compared to UNM's 306.
The two-shot victory by UNLV was the third year in a row that the team championship was decided by two strokes or less. UNLV and New Mexico were never separated by more than two strokes the entire day as the title went down to the wire. The winner of the Mountain West Conference Tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Kurokawa shot a steady one-over par Saturday to finish with a three-day total of 214 (+1), winning her first title by four strokes over Rachel Newren of BYU, who finished with a 218 (+5). Kristen Campos came in third with a score of 220 (+7) and Christine Fernandez and Ashley Rollins of New Mexico tied for fourth with scores of 224 (+11).
The win for Kurokawa capped a strong spring and finally gave the junior a title after she had finished in the top 10 in her last four tournaments leading up to the MWC Championships.
"She (Kurokawa) has been waiting for this for a while," Ringler said. "I knew this tournament was going to be the one she would win. She played great golf."
Seema Sadekar and Hwanhee Lee joined Kurokawa in the top 10 and the Rebels had all five players finish in the top 20. Sadekar came in sixth with a three-day total of 225 (+12) and Lee finished in a tie for eighth with a final score of 227 (+14). Christine Hentzner tied for 16th with a score 235 (+22) and Young Pak came in 20th with a total of 237 (+24).
Team Standings Scores1. UNLV 295-298-305=898 (+46)2. New Mexico 300-294-306=900 (+48)3. Colorado State 302-298-307=907 (+55)4. BYU 304-301-320=925 (+73)5. San Diego State 316-309-329=954 (+102)6. Wyoming 332-317-344=993 (+141)
Individual Scores1. Elena Kurokawa, UNLV 69-73-72=214 (+1)2. Rachel Newren, BYU 70-73-75=218 (+5)3. Kristen Campos, Colorado State 73-74-73=220 (+7)4. Christine Fernandez, New Mexico 72-74-78=224 (+11)Ashley Rollins, New Mexico 78-71-75=224 (+11)6. Seema Sadekar, UNLV 76-74-75=225 (+12)7. Jamie Oliver, San Diego State 74-73-79=226 (+13)8. Hwanhee Lee, UNLV 73-75-79=227 (+14)Trisha Quick, Colorado State 77-72-78=227 (+14)10. Kailin Downs, New Mexico 78-75-75=228 (+15)
