Sept. 26, 2007

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -

Complete Tournament Results

UNLV women's golf completed its first tournament of the year on Wednesday, finishing 18th at the Margaret Branch NCAA Fall Preview, which was played at the University of New Mexico Championship Course.

The Rebels shot their best round of the tournament on the par-73, 6,351-yard course, a 306 (+14) that gave the squad a 54-hole score of 929 (+54) over the three-day event. The field was arguably the strongest gathering of collegiate teams that any tournament will have during the regular season, as no less than 16 of the 18 teams in the field were ranked in Golfweek's Preseason Top 30.

Defending champion and preseason No. 1 Duke took home the team title by the slimmest of margins, as the Blue Devils' score of 860 (-16) was good enough to hold off No. 3 USC, which carded an 861 (-15) to finish second. No. 4 UCLA (870, -6) came in third and No. 2 Arizona State (874, -2) finished fourth. Medalist honors went to Dewi Claire Schreefel of USC, as she finished with a 54-hole score of 204 (-15), four strokes better than Amanda Blumenherst of Duke.

Although UNLV head coach Missy Ringler was disappointed in the team's last-place finish, she said there were many positives she took from her young squad, which saw three Rebels make their Division-I debut at the preview.

"You never want to finish last as a program at any tournament, but this is the strongest field will face the entire year besides the NCAA Championships," UNLV head coach Missy Ringler said. "We gained a lot of experience and are looking forward to getting back to practicing and then heading to our next tournament."

Two of those Rebels who were making their debuts were freshmen Therese Koelbaek and Alejandra Guacaneme, who each put together three solid rounds.

Koelbaek, a rookie from Denmark, was the Rebels' highest finisher, coming in tied for 55th with a score of 228 (75-76-77, +9). She rolled in five birdies during the final round but also had nine bogies to go with four pars. Guacaneme, who hails from Colombia, was three strokes behind her freshman teammate and finished with a score of 231 (76-77-78, +12) to tie for 64th.

Rebel sophomore Natasha Krishna is tied for tied for 68th with a score of 232 (78-79-75, +13) after she played her best round of the tournament, posting a score of two-over 75.

The other Rebel making her debut was Tonya Choate, who rebounded from a rough opening round to post two solid rounds, including a second-straight 76 (-3) to finished 82nd with a score of 238 (86-76-76, +19) Choate is a senior who transferred to UNLV from Division-II Drury University this summer.

UNLV junior Nicole McGirr rounded out the Rebel scorecard, finishing 92nd with a total of 257 (90-82-85, +38).

UNLV TEAM SCORE

18. UNLV 315-308-306--929 (+53)

UNLV INDIVIDUALS

T55. Therese Koelbaek 75-76-77--228 (+9)T64. Alejandra Guacaneme 76-77-78--231 (+12)T68. Natasha Krishna 78-79-75--232 (+13)82. Tonya Choate 86-76-76--238 (+19)92. Nicole McGirr 90-82-85--257 (+38)