Staff Report
The UNM women's golf team roared back in the second round of the 27th annual Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational to tie for fourth place with one round left in the tournament.
The No. 23 Lobos shot the second-lowest round of the day to finish in a tie with Mountain West Conference foe and No. 14 University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
UNM's 1-under-par 291 keeps it in a hunt for the title at its home course as the top five teams are separated by only two shots with the final round to be played today.
Pepperdine, ranked No. 3, shot the low score Tuesday with a 2 under par to hold first place along with unranked Texas A&M at 2 over par overall.
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Ohio State took a dip to third after its first-round lead of six shots was negated by an 8-over-par round.
UNM is trying to win its fourth McGuire Invitational in five years and would have been poised to start the last round in first if it didn't shoot 4 over par in its last five holes Tuesday.
UNM won the tournament three years in a row before losing last year to the University of Georgia.
Individually, Texas A&M's Ashley Knoll, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas's Grace Woo and Pepperdine's Carolina Llano are tied for the lead at 5 under par.
The Lobos were led by Swedish freshman Mikaela Backstedt who shot a 1 under par to tie for fourth place at 4 under par.
UNM sophomore Alexandra Phelps shot the Lobos' lowest round of the day and the best round of her collegiate career, a 2-under-par 71, to finish Tuesday tied for 14th place.
Lobo junior Ashley Rollins shot an even-par round to tie for 25th.
Senior Christine Fernandez and sophomore Giselle Claux are at 8 over par and tied for 49th.
