April 25, 2005

LAS VEGAS - Fresh off its second-straight Mountain West Conference Championship, the UNLV women's golf team learned on Monday that it is headed to the NCAA West Regional in Las Cruces, N.M., the NCAA announced.

New Mexico State University will host the regional and it will be played on the New Mexico State University Golf Course. Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each region.

The Rebels earned the league's automatic spot in the tournament after winning the conference championship last weekend by two strokes over New Mexico. Elena Kurokawa, who was named the MWC Player of the Year on Sunday, won medalist honors with a one-over 214.

This year's trip to the West Regional marks the second-straight time that UNLV has fielded an entire team at a NCAA Regional in the program's four-year history. Last year the Rebels finished second in the East Regional to Duke. UNLV made its first appearance at an NCAA Regional during the 2003 season when the Rebels played at the NCAA West Regional in Tempe, Ariz.

UNLV will be joined in the field by fellow MWC-members BYU and Colorado State along with Pac-10 champion UCLA and Big-12 champion Oklahoma State. The three-day, 54-hole regional starts on May 5 on the par-72, 6,119-yard course.

Teams:1. UCLA (Pacific-10 Conference)2. Georgia3. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference)4. Tennessee5. Southern California6. Arizona7. California8. Washington State9. Stanford10. UNLV (Mountain West Conference)11. Oregon12. San Francisco13. UC Irvine (Big West Conference)14. Brigham Young15. Colorado State16. Portland State (Big Sky Conference)17. Northwestern18. Oral Roberts (Mid-Continent Conference)19. Illinois State (Missouri Valley Conference)20. Georgia State (Atlantic Sun Conference)21. Denver (Sun Belt Conference)
Individuals:1. Kay Hoey, Long Beach State2. Laura Luethke, Fresno State3. Renee Skidmore, Idaho