Bearkats eliminated from NCAA Championship
4/16/2016 10:38:00 AM | Women's Bowling
NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The Bearkats were in a must win situation Saturday morning in the NCAA Bowling Championships and they started strong. The Kats won the opening two games against North Carolina A&T, but couldn't hold off the Aggies, who came roaring back to win four straight and eliminate Sam Houston from the championship.
The Kats were hot early, getting six straight strikes in the opening game of the match, on their way to a 237 and a 14-pin victory. They doubled the advantage in the second game, getting three consecutive strikes from Madysen Keller, Janine Kuwahara and Heather Penatzer for a 205-182 win.
After dropping the third game, Sam Houston had a chance to take a 3-1 lead in the match. After a spare to start the 10th, Penatzer needed eight pins to win the game, but she managed just six and the Kats lost 197-196.
The Bearkats never recovered, dropping the next two games to be eliminated from the competition.
The loss puts an end to the Sam Houston career of three seniors, Anna Groce, Erin Brown and Carrie Hopkinson.
For Groce and Brown, it caps the best four-year stretch for Sam Houston Bowling. In their career the two seniors competed in four NCAA Championship events, made two semi-final appearances and in 2014 won a national championship.
For the weekend, the Bearkats won a record six matches in the NCAA Championship, equaling their win total in the 2014 competition.
