Kats drop close match to open CUSA Championships
3/18/2026 8:26:00 PM | Women's Bowling
HARAHAN, La. — Sam Houston pushed Louisiana Tech to the limit only to fall short in round one at the Conference USA Championships on Wednesday at Colonial Lanes.
The eighth-seeded Bearkats forced a best-of-seven tiebreaker after bouncing back following a loss to No. 5 LA Tech in game one. Sam Houston rebounded to win game two, but ultimately fell short in the final, giving the Bulldogs the 2-1 advantage.
"Overall, today was a very good day but just fell short despite averaging 214 for the 16 games we threw," head coach Brad Hagen said. "We really got something going late in the traditional set that gave us the look we were wanting for the Baker set and match play.
"We're still alive and competing and that's what matters. We know what we need to do, it's now just doing it and stepping up to the occasion."
The Bearkats fell to LA Tech 978-968 in traditional format before rallying to take the Baker 1,133-974. The Bulldogs were able to take the match by winning the best of format 4-2.
Sam Houston will face No. 10 Wright State on Thursday in the contender's bracket.
Championship Format
The Conference USA Championship is determined by the mega-match format. A mega-match encompasses three different rounds or points, and a team must get to two points to win the match.
The first round is the traditional format. Each team in the match has five players bowl a full game, and each individual's total score is added together for the team total. Whichever team has the highest score from all five individual games wins the point and leads the mega-match 1-0.
The second round of the mega-match is the Baker total pinfall portion, which consists of five games. The winner is determined by adding the pinfall of all five games together. In the Baker format, lineups are comprised of five bowlers with each being responsible for two frames in each game. The leadoff player bowls in frames one and six. The second person in the lineup bowls in frames two and seven, etc. If the team that wins the traditional round also wins the Baker pinfall round, they win the match 2-0. If the team that lost the traditional round wins the Baker point, the mega-match is tied 1-1 and goes to a best-of-seven Baker match play format.
In the best-of-seven tiebreaker format, instead of adding five games together to determine a total, all that matters is the score each game. Winning 300-175 of 176-175 has the same weight. The first team to four games wins the point and wins the mega-match 2-1.
The eighth-seeded Bearkats forced a best-of-seven tiebreaker after bouncing back following a loss to No. 5 LA Tech in game one. Sam Houston rebounded to win game two, but ultimately fell short in the final, giving the Bulldogs the 2-1 advantage.
"Overall, today was a very good day but just fell short despite averaging 214 for the 16 games we threw," head coach Brad Hagen said. "We really got something going late in the traditional set that gave us the look we were wanting for the Baker set and match play.
"We're still alive and competing and that's what matters. We know what we need to do, it's now just doing it and stepping up to the occasion."
The Bearkats fell to LA Tech 978-968 in traditional format before rallying to take the Baker 1,133-974. The Bulldogs were able to take the match by winning the best of format 4-2.
Sam Houston will face No. 10 Wright State on Thursday in the contender's bracket.
Championship Format
The Conference USA Championship is determined by the mega-match format. A mega-match encompasses three different rounds or points, and a team must get to two points to win the match.
The first round is the traditional format. Each team in the match has five players bowl a full game, and each individual's total score is added together for the team total. Whichever team has the highest score from all five individual games wins the point and leads the mega-match 1-0.
The second round of the mega-match is the Baker total pinfall portion, which consists of five games. The winner is determined by adding the pinfall of all five games together. In the Baker format, lineups are comprised of five bowlers with each being responsible for two frames in each game. The leadoff player bowls in frames one and six. The second person in the lineup bowls in frames two and seven, etc. If the team that wins the traditional round also wins the Baker pinfall round, they win the match 2-0. If the team that lost the traditional round wins the Baker point, the mega-match is tied 1-1 and goes to a best-of-seven Baker match play format.
In the best-of-seven tiebreaker format, instead of adding five games together to determine a total, all that matters is the score each game. Winning 300-175 of 176-175 has the same weight. The first team to four games wins the point and wins the mega-match 2-1.
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