HOUSTON, Texas | The defending Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) champion Alabama State University bowling team claimed six victories on the opening weekend of the season at the SHSU Track Kat Clash, held at Emerald Lanes.
 
On the opening day of the tournament, the Lady Hornets picked up a pair of wins in Baker play as they defeated Grambling State 846-712 and Louisiana Tech 966-808. They also faced Prairie View A&M, McKendree and Sam Houston State; with the Lady Hornets facing a pair of top 10 teams.
 
In their second day of action, the Lady Hornets picked up three wins in their five matches which included opening the session with an 819-815 victory over Southern. They followed that match with a 953-865 victory over Texas Southern, before dropping matches to Stephen F. Austin (927-813) and UAB (938-875). The second day concluded with Alabama State defeating Jackson State 899-879.
 
The Lady Hornets entered tournament play on Sunday as the 17th-seed overall and picked up a 4-3 victory (best-of-seven) over Texas Southern to start the day. The Lady Hornets dropped the first two games in the series to Texas Southern, before coming back to win game three 197-158 to trim the deficit to 2-1. The Lady Tigers came back and won game three (200-176) to put the Lady Hornets on the brink of defeat. However, Alabama State came back to win the final three games starting with game four (200-179). The Lady Hornets won the final two games (212-202 / 178-154) to earn the win.
 
After advancing in the winner's bracket, Alabama State fell to Prairie View A&M 4-0, before facing Texas Southern again in the Position Round. In that match jumped to a 2-0 lead (202-191 / 177-154) before Texas Southern came back to take a 3-2 advantage by winning three games in a row. Alabama State forced a seventh and deciding match after winning game six 134-128, before Texas Southern was able to come back and win the game for a 4-3 victory.
 
Individually, Tiarra Watkins finished 55th overall for the Lady Hornets on the weekend with an overall 884 in five matches. She recorded an average score of 176.80. Jessica Sawmiller finished 60th overall with 870 pins and an average score of 174.00.
 
Alize Stevenson finished just behind Sawmiller at 61st overall with 861 pins and an average score of 172.20, while Haley Young finished with 740 pins and an average score of 185.00 in four matches to round the Lady Hornets in the top 100.
 
For the weekend, Alabama State finished 6-7 and will return to action next weekend in Jackson (Miss.) at the Jackson State tournament.
 
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