September 19, 2008–UNLV junior Natasha Krishna flew up the leaderboard, firing a three-under 70 during Friday’s second round of the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, which is being held at the University of New Mexico Championship Course. Krishna rolled in five birdies, including a string of four in five holes to close out the front nine, and is tied for third heading into tomorrow’s final round. Her strong play has the Rebels sixth overall as a team with a two-round score of 598 (301-297, +14) and they are just four shots back of third place. "Natasha played really well and it was great to see her rolling in putts and playing with the confidence I know she has,” UNLV head coach Missy Ringler said. “Hopefully we can have a better round from the number four spot in the lineup and make a push for a top-three finish."
No. 8 Pepperdine and host-No. 19 New Mexico share the team lead with 18 holes to go with scores of 585 (+1), good for a nine-stroke lead over UC Davis, which is third with a total of 594 (+10). Texas and Colorado State are tied for fourth, just one stroke better than UNLV. Jodi Ewart of New Mexico has the individual lead with a five-under 141, one stroke ahead of Jayvie Agojo of Pepperdine and three stroke ahead of a group tied for third that includes Krishna.
Krishna actually bogied her first hole of the day but rebounded with birdies on holes five, six, eight and nine to sit at three under at the turn. She bogied 11 but got that shot back on 15 with a birdie before closing her round with three pars.
Rebel sophomore Therese Koelbaek is just outside the top 10 after she shot a second-consecutive one-over 74 for a two-day total of 148 (+2) that has her currently tied for 11th. Koelbaek played steady golf with two birdies, three bogies and 13 pars in her round.
Alejandra Guacaneme (79-75—154, +8) and Bethany Glassford (74-80—154, +8) are tied for 41st while freshman Kristen Schelling (79-78—157, +11) is tied for 55th to round out the Rebel scorecard. UNLV senior Kasi Lee is playing as an individual and is tied for 64th with a two-round total of 160 (79-81, +14).
Saturday’s final round is a shotgun start that also starts at 7:00 a.m. and fans can follow the tournament live at unlvrebels.com. This report is from Bryan Haines, UNLV Sports Information.