Bowlers start Southland Championship with 2 wins
3/22/2019 11:01:00 PM | Women's Bowling
The Bearkat bowlers kicked off the Southland Bowling League Championship on a high note on Friday winning their two matches to advance to the semifinals.
The Kats opened the day with a win over Louisiana Tech taking the first two rounds of the best of three match to advance in the winners bracket where they faced off against Arkansas State. The Kats, entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed went toe to toe with the third-seeded Red Wolves.
In a match that was fitting of two of the top teams in the country, the match went to the third round, where the Kats won the best-of-seven baker match in six.
“When you get to this part of the season, those are the kinds of matches you expect,” said head coach Brad Hagen. “I thought we came out determined today and the girls stuck to the game plan. I'm really proud of the way they handled the ups and downs.”
The traditional match was a back-and-forth contest with the Kats edging Arkansas State 866-861. Madysen Keller led the way for Sam Houston with a 203 average. Elise Chambers was right behind her with a 200.
In the team bakers, the Kats opened out to the early lead and had the advantage through three games. But the Kats struggled in games four and five and Arkansas State won to force the third round and a Baker best-of-seven.
In the third round the Kats jumped out to a 3-1 lead, winning by 12 pins, 20 pins and 13 pins. After dropping the fifth, the Kats bounced back and took the sixth game 200-191 to close out the match.
“We showed a lot of character there at the end,” Hagen said. “It would have been easy to get down on ourselves after losing the team baker. But I think the girls understood the magnitude of that match and were able to dig down and make the shots when we needed them.”
In the opening match of the day against Louisiana Tech, the Bearkats were led in the traditional score matchup by Kat Dickerson who knocked down a 229 to lead all scorers. SHSU continued to hit the gas, concluding the match in the baker pinfall series with a 975-853 advantage over the Lady Techsters.
The Bearkats will have the bye in the morning round and will face top-seed Vanderbilt in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m.
