UNLV women lead Mountain West

Friday, April 23, 2004 | 10:26 a.m.

SUN WIRE REPORTS

SUNRIVER, Ore. -- The 20th-ranked UNLV women's golf team matched the school record for low round with a 289 team total and held a two-stroke lead over four-time defending champ New Mexico after the first round of play at the Mountain West Conference Championship on Thursday.

The Rebels were paced on the day by sophomore Elena Kurokawa, who carded a career best 68 at the par-71, 5,851-yard Meadows Course at Sunriver Resort. At 3-under, Kurokawa led the event by two strokes over BYU's Margaret Gibby and defending conference champ Katrina Lekovic of New Mexico.

The 68 was not only Kurokawa's best, but also matched the tournament record shot by New Mexico's Kristi Larsen in 2002. It marked the second best single-round total in school history, trailing the 67 shot by Sunny Oh at last year's NCAA West Region tournament.

Two other Rebels crowded into the top 10. Hwanhee Lee carded a 1-over 72 and sat alone in sixth place. One step behind was sophomore Sunny Oh, who is in a three-way tie for seventh after shooting 73.

Both Young Pak and Seema Sadekar wrapped the team total up with 76s, good for a 16th-place tie in the individual standings.

"We played well today and feel good about that," UNLV head coach Missy Ringler said. "This is what we came out here to do. We just have to keep doing it for two more rounds."