April 20, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - MWC Championships Second Round Results
The UNLV women's golf team remained in fifth place following the completion of Friday's second round at the 2007 Mountain West Conference Championships, being played at Entrada at Snow Canyon. The Rebels, winners of the last three tournament titles, will need a spectacular final round on Saturday as well as some help from the leaders to make it four straight crowns.
UNLV has a two-round total of 637 (+69) after carding a 320 as a team in the second round on the par-71, 6,210-yard course, the same one that the Rebels won their third league title on last year. Today the course was not as kind to UNLV, as three different players shot 12-over or higher on their round.
BYU remains in the team lead after 36 holes with a team total of 600 (294-306, +32), and the Cougars have a six-stroke lead over TCU (300-306--606, +38). New Mexico (314-304--618, +50) is third, followed by Colorado State (315-312--627, +31) and then the Rebels. Wyoming (321-327--638, +70) and San Diego State (324-314, +70) are tied for sixth to round out the seven-team field. Rachel Newren of BYU has the individual clubhouse lead with a two-round score of 146 (74-74, +4) following her round of three-over today. Newren has a two-stroke lead over TCU's Valentine Derrey and New Mexico's Jodi Ewart.
Natasha Krishna had the strongest round of the day for the Rebels, as the freshman rolled three birdies on her way to a second-round score of 73 (+2), which allowed her to move all the way up into a tie for fourth. She has a two-day total of 150 (+8), which is just four shots behind Newren heading into the final round.
Krishna is part of a young Rebel team at this year's tournament, as the freshman is joined by fellow freshman Melissa Mabanta and sophomores Kasi Lee and Nicole McGirr. Those four are playing in their first league tournament and while Mabanta, Lee and McGirr have struggled, the lone veteran on the Rebels is also in the top 10 for UNLV.
Seema Sadekar, the squad's only senior, is currently tied for eighth with a two-round total of 153 (76-77, +11) and is within striking distance of the top of the leaderboard. Sadekar is playing in her fourth-consecutive MWC tournament and she set the league record with a 66 (-5) during the final round of the 2004 tournament.
Mabanta is tied for 28th with a total of 163 (80-83, +21) McGirr is 33rd with a 171 (84-87, +29) and Kasi Lee is 34th with a 176 (86-90, +34). Saturday's final round is schedule to start at 8:30 a.m. (PT) and fans can follow the tournament live by clicking here.
