Lobo Women Down New Mexico State 3-2 to Conclude NB3 Match Play

SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. – The New Mexico women’s golf team concluded play Wednesday at the inaugural NB3 Match Play, a four-school made-for-TV event airing on the Golf Channel. The Lobos posted a 3-2 victory over New Mexico State on the final day to end the event with one win and two losses after facing No. 1 Stanford and No. 4 Texas yesterday.

Texas won the women’s competition with 11.5 points over the three matches in the tournament’s round robin format. Stanford was second with 10.5 points, while the Lobos were third with 4.5 points and New Mexico State was fourth with 3.5 points.

In Wednesday’s match, the Aggies took a 2-0 lead by winning the first two matches completed before the Lobos took the final three to earn the victory. Maria Caparros Levin, Chelsea Truong and Rebecca Galasso recorded wins for New Mexico. Caparros Levin took the lead with a birdie on No. 2 and never looked back, posting a 5&3 win over Marley Moncada. Truong used a stretch of winning three straight holes from No. 5-7 to grab a 3up lead over Emma Thompson, as she would close out a 4&3 win. In the deciding match, Galasso and Kaylee Chen traded holes for the first six holes and the match remained tied through seven before Galasso won three of the final nine holes to take a 3&2 win.

“Match play is such a different animal and everyone fights to the end, as did New Mexico State,” said head coach Jill Trujillo. “Our girls were ready today. Sometimes it is good to get beat, like what happened yesterday, so that you want it that much more. Competitive juices can grow stale, so a good match play event gets them flowing again. I know our players will take a lot from this week. We battled Stanford and Texas and were right there with them. This will give us a lot of confidence moving forward.”

The Lobos will conclude their fall schedule with the Jim West Challenge, hosted by Texas State. The event runs Oct. 20-21 at the Kissing Tree Golf Club in San Marcos, Texas.