RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) – Super senior Veronica Joels and senior Nicole Lorup paced UNLV women's golf on the top-15 leaderboard after Tuesday's opening round of the 2023 Mountain West Championship at Mission Hills Country Club (Par 72, 6,252 yards).

The Rebel duo sits tied for 13th with matching even-par 72 scores through 18 holes. On the team leaderboard, UNLV is tied for fifth with Colorado State at 6-over.

Following Lorup and Joels in UNLV's lineup, sophomore McKenzi Hall (+3) and freshman Thienna Huynh (+3) also shot identical scores to find themselves tied for 29th and sophomore Toa Yokoyama (+7) is tied for 41st.

New Mexico, which shot a 3-under, inched just one shot ahead of No. 10 San Jose State (-2) in second to take the early lead. They each hold at least a two-shot advantage over Boise State (E) in third and UNR (+1) in fourth. The Spartans' Antonia Malate, who ranks 25th in the country, and UNM's Napat Lertsadwattana are tied atop the individual leaderboard at 4-under for a one-shot lead on the Broncos' Hannah Lim (-3) in third.

UP NEXT FOR THE REBELS: The second round will start at 7 a.m. PT Wednesday. Tee times for UNLV are scheduled for 7:45 a.m. PT.