BOULDER CITY, NV (UNLVRebels.com) - For the first time in UNLV women's golf history, the Rebels won their second tournament during the fall portion of the season after taking the team title at The Clash at Boulder Creek Tuesday. Senior Veronica Joels, who took the lead after Monday's second round, earned her first career tournament victory after posting a career-low 54-hole score of 5-under 211. It was the second sweep of the season as UNLV and freshman Sydney Bryan finished first at the McNamara Invitational in Tulsa earlier this month.

UNLV turned in its best team round in the last few years on the final day of the three-day event hosted by Northern Arizona at Boulder Creek Golf Club as the Rebels shot a 8-under 280 to finish at even for the tournament and win by a whopping 16 strokes over second-place Fresno State. It was the lowest single-round team score since the Rebels shot 277 and 278 in consecutive rounds to win the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown in October of 2017, while it was the eighth-lowest single round team score of all time. The 16-stroke margin of victory was the largest since March of 2017 when UNLV won the Battle at Boulder Creek by 39 strokes. Even more impressive is that UNLV had to do it with just four players on Tuesday after Byran had to withdraw prior to the final round.

Joels, a Las Vegas native, has been playing the best golf of her career this fall and it showed this week in Boulder City. After ending round one in a tie for fourth at 2-under 70, Joels matched her career single-round low of 3-under 69 to take a one-shot lead into Tuesday's finale at 5-under. Joels shot even on the day to remain at 5-under and it proved to be enough to edge out Utah Valley's Victoria Estrada, who finished in second at 4-under. Joels bested her previous 54-hole tournament low of even by five strokes and sank 13 birdies over the three rounds.

Junior Nicole Lorup was the next highest UNLV finisher in a tie for fifth after closing out her first fall as a Rebel with her best single round score - a 5-under 67 - to card a 2-over 218 for the tournament. Freshman Hina Matsui had her best round Tuesday, carding a 1-under 71 to finish one shot behind Lorup at 3-over 219 to tie for eighth. Fellow freshman Kendall Todd also turned in an under-par final round of 2-under 70 to finish in a tie for 11th at 4-over. UNLV had four Rebels playing as individuals with freshman McKenzi Hall finishing in a tie for 11th with Todd at 4-over, followed by sophomore Madeleine Laux in a tie for 17th at 5-over, junior Aliyah Williams in a tie for 74th at 19-over and sophomore Gracie Olkowski in a tie for 83rd at 23-over. In all, five of eight Rebels shot under par in their final round.

Fellow Mountain West member Fresno State came in second behind UNLV at 16-over, followed by San Francisco in third at 18-over, UC Riverside in fourth at 20-over and Grand Canyon in fifth at 25-over. Individually, finishing in third behind Joels and Estrada was San Francisco's Annika Borrelli and UC Riverside's Katie Villegas, who each shot a 1-over for the tournament.

UP NEXT: UNLV has concluded the fall portion of its season and will begin the spring portion by hosting "The Show" at Spanish Trail Golf Club on February 14 and 15, 2022.

NOTES:
• UNLV won two tournaments during the fall portion of its season for the first time in program history (Dale McNamara & The Clash at Boulder Creek)
• UNLV's 8-under 280 in the final round of The Clash at Boulder Creek was its lowest single-round team score since 2017 and eighth lowest all-time 
• The Rebels won the 2021 Dale McNamara Invitational Oct 11-12 in Tulsa, Oklahoma by 11 strokes, marking first tournament win since 2019 (Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown); Three Rebels finished in the top six with freshman Sydney Bryan winning her first collegiate tournament at 4-under 212
• UNLV finished at 3-under at the Jim West Invitational, marking the first time the Rebels finished under par in back-to-back tournaments since the spring of 2017
• UNLV has six returners from last year's squad and welcomed six newcomers to squad this fall, including five freshmen
• Marissa Uradomo, a four-time MVC All-Conference golfer at Indiana State, joined Bush-Herzer's staff as an assistant coach in September of 2021
• Head coach Amy Bush-Herzer is in her 11th year at the helm of the program. She has led her team to a conference championship four times.