PULLMAN, Wash. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV women's golf team's 2022-23 season came to a close Wednesday with an 11th-place finish at 4-over 868 at the NCAA Pullman Regional at Palouse Ridge Golf Club (Par 72, 6,405 yards).
Sophomore
McKenzi Hall, who shot below par for the second time this week with a final-round 1-under 71, led the Rebels with a tied-for-26th finish at 2-under 214. Rounding out the Scarlet & Gray lineup were senior
Nicole Lorup (+2) tied for 42nd, freshman
Thienna Huynh (+4) in 48th, sophomore
Toa Yokoyama (+5) tied for 49th and super senior
Veronica Joels (+8) tied for 54th.
Top-seeded Stanford maintained its lead to win the regional title at 50-under 814 for 17-shot advantage over runner-up Clemson (-33). Joining the Cardinal and Tigers in advancing to the NCAA Championship, USC (-26) finished third, Baylor (-23) placed fourth and Texas Tech (-19) claimed the fifth and final qualifying spot. Earning the individual victory, Stanford's Rose Zhang shot a 19-under 197 for a 4-shot advantage over her teammate Sadie Englemann (-15) in second. Leading all individual competitors, UC Riverside's Tiffany Le moved past the regional into the championship with a 14-under 202, outlasting Washington's Camille Boyd (-13) by one shot.
This finalizes a strong run to end the season that saw the Rebels place sixth or better in seven consecutive tournaments prior to the regional event. Additionally, freshman
Thienna Huynh garnered two postseason awards with her 2023 Mountain West Freshman of the Year award and a MW All-Conference Second Team selection.
At the same time, UNLV's duo of Joels and Lorup wrapped up their final seasons after guiding the Scarlet and Gray to the NCAA postseason for the second straight year. Joels leaves behind an illustrious career as the program's all-time leader in career rounds played (141) and tournaments played (47), while ranking third in career birdies (339) and tied for third in career rounds at par or better (45). Lorup also leaves behind her mark in the program record book, finishing sixth all-time with 29 rounds at par or better as a Rebel.
