March 14, 2006

BOULDER CITY, Nev. - Elena Kurokawa shot a one-under 71 and two other Rebels carded par rounds Tuesday to help the UNLV women's golf team grab the second-round lead at the UNLV Spring Invitational held at Boulder Creek Golf Club.

Kurokawa rebounded from a tough opening round on Monday to card four birdies and help the Rebels shot a one-over 289 for a two-round total of 579 (+3), giving them a six-shot lead over Long Beach State. The 49ers started the day in first place, but fell out of the top spot with a second-round 296 (+8) and are at 585 (+9) for the tournament.

Campbell University (296-296--588, +12), is in third, New Mexico (301-288--589, +13) is in fourth and BYU (303-290--593, +17) rounds out the top five. Mikaela Backstedt of New Mexico and Kay Hoey of Long Beach State share the lead after 36 holes, with each posting a two-round score of 140 (-4).

Seema Sadekar is two strokes off the pace and is alone in third place after posting an even-par round of 72 on Tuesday for a two-day total of 142 (-2). Rebel teammate Da Sol Chung is just one stroke behind Sadekar after Chung carded a par-round of her own for a total of 141 (-1).

Grace Woo is tied for 14th with a two round score of 147 (73-74, +3), Young Pak is tied for 34th at 151 (76-75, +7) and Kurokawa rounds out the Rebel lineup in 42nd place with a 152 (81-71, +8).

UNLV fielded a second team at the invite, and Allison Chell had her best round of the year, shooting a one-under 71 and is tied for 27th with a two-round total of 150 (+6). Kasi Lee, a transfer playing in her second tournament at UNLV, is tied for 56th (79-77--156, +12), Nicole McGirr is tied for 85th (83-79--162, +18), Chelsea Pendleton is 94th (95-90--185, +41) and Erin McGough is 95th (92-95--187, +43).

The tournament wraps up tomorrow on the par-72, 6,153-yard course at 7:30 a.m. (PST) with teams teeing off of holes one and 10. Fans can get full results and follow the tournament live by clicking here.