UNLV women finish 5th in Mountain West golf tournament

UNLV improved each day of the women’s Mountain West Championship, but ultimately the Rebels finished the final event of their golf season in fifth place, one shot shy of rival UNR on the Dinah Shore course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.

The Rebels played the final round in 3 over, finishing at 13 over for the week and 24 shots off the pace of surprising champion New Mexico. The Lobos rallied on Thursday with the week’s best round, an 8-under 280, to finish at 11 under and vault past No. 8 San Jose State for a five-shot victory.

Colorado State was third at 3 under, followed by UNR (12 over) and UNLV (13 over). The Rebels had pulled ahead of the Wolf Pack late, but bogeys on the final two holes by senior Nicole Lorup dropped them back into fifth.

Lorup, who has been the team’s best player in the spring, was the top individual finisher for the Rebels at 1-over 217, good for 14th place in the 45-player field. Thienna Huynh (3 over, 16th), McKenzi Hall (4 over, 17th), Veronica Joels (5 over, 21st) and Toa Yokayama (17 over, 40th) rounded out the UNLV finishers.

New Mexico senior Napat Lertsadwattana rallied on the back nine to finish at 7-under 209 to claim the individual title by two shots over San Jose State’s Kajsa Arwefjall.

UNLV ends its season having finished in the top six in every tournament it played in the spring, including a second-place finish at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic.

Greg Robertson covers golf for the Review-Journal. Reach him at grobertson@reviewjournal.com.