April 15, 2011

Tournament Central

PHOENIX (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV women's golf team continued its strong play at the 2011 Mountain West Conference Championship, leading the field with a 4-over par 292 team total in round two, staying three strokes ahead of second-place TCU.

"I am happy with today's play from our girls," said first-year head coach Amy Bush. "They went out there and played their brand of golf. We need to continue that kind of play throughout the day tomorrow if we want to reach our goal."

Ellis Keenan and Therese Koelbaek sit in a three-way tie for first place with BYU's Maggie Yuan at 3-under par heading into the final round. Koelbaek was one of just three players to card a round under par, shooting 71 on the day. She has played the back nine 6-under through the first two rounds of the tournament.

Keenan birdied the 379-yard, par-4 third to move to 5-under overall. She made the turn at even par following a bogey on the seventh and after four straight pars on to open the back nine, a bogey at the par-4, 361-yard 14th dropped her to 1-over for the round.

Alejandra Guacaneme moved up one spot to 10th following her round of 1-over par 73. Guacaneme was 1-under after the front nine and moved to 2-under for the round after carding a birdie on the par-4, 373-yard 10th. Bogies at the remaining three par-4's ended her back nine with a 2-over 38.

Bethany Glassford was three-over for the day making the turn before two consecutive bogies dropped her to 5-over for the day. The Rebels' long-ball hitter regrouped and birdied two of the ensuing three holes to finish even on the back nine and 3-over for the day, standing in a tie for 15th.

UNLV is seeking its fourth MWC Championship in program history. The Rebels were back-to-back-to-back champions from 2004-06, joining New Mexico as the only two teams to win at least three in a row.

The three-day tournament will conclude tomorrow, with the first tee time coming at 7 a.m. from the Red/Heritage Course at the Wigwam Resort.