HANRAHAN, La. – The Alabama State University women's bowling team put forth a stellar all-around effort in its first weekend of competition, going 7-6 and finishing in fifth place at the 2026 Colonial Lanes Classic, hosted by Tulane University at the Hanrahan Colonial Lanes this past Friday through Sunday.
The Hornets (7-6 overall) had strong performances on all three days, securing two baker wins on Friday, going 4-1 in traditional play on Saturday, and defeating 20th-ranked UAB in the final, best-of-seven baker match on Sunday to finish the tournament in fifth place. Sophomore
Taylor Lee (209.2 pinfall average) and junior
Olivia Miller (209 pinfall average) were fifth and sixth, respectively, in individual scoring, the latter of whom turned in a tournament-best 279 total in ASU's 1,141-791 traditional victory over Oklahoma Christian.
Day one featured a tough pair of opening contests against No. 8 Sam Houston and No. 7 Louisiana Tech, although the latter match only had an eight-pin margin of defeat. That led to two huge victories over SWAC foes Texas Southern (1001-803) and Southern (1024-775) before a valiant effort fell short against the 17th-ranked Tulane, the tournament hosts on their home lanes.
Traditional play fared much better for the Lady Hornets, who easily handled two more SWAC teams in Jackson State (948-881) and Prairie View A&M (988-857) and one of the biggest margins of victory by any team at the tournament in the aforementioned victory over Oklahoma Christian. After a tough setback against perennial HBCU bowling powerhouse and ninth-ranked North Carolina A&T, Bama State picked up a well-earned victory over Florida A&M, 987-865.
Best-of-seven baker play opened with the Hornets on a path to the championship round, although it would have to get by two of the ranked teams it had fallen victim to on Friday – Tulane and Sam Houston. While Sam Houston swept the Hornets, the Tulane contest in the opening round was a slim, 4-3 defeat in a match that ASU was 11 points from flipping in game five.
The Hornets were not shaken despite the losses, and it maintained confidence as it looked ahead to beating its first ranked opponent of the season. It responded from a 25-pin game one loss with a 236-202 second game, and the teams traded wins in the next two contests, with the ASU win coming in a 201-155 game four. It put UAB up against the wall with a 186-178 fifth-game win, and while the biggest loss for ASU was by 26 pins in the sixth game, the winner-take-all game was one of the biggest of the day, a 227-180 victory to seal the fifth-place finish.
Individually, Lee finished fifth to claim First Team All-Tournament Team honors, and Miller secured Second Team All-Tournament honors with her sixth place finish. Junior
Jenna Knight had a 16th-place finish after a 194 average and a 236 high score in the win over OCU, while
Nevaeh Williams rounded out the quartet of five-match starters with a pair of 200-pin games to finish 21st with a 190.4 average. Rookie bowlers
Alicen Ichimura and
Morgan Winchell also saw time on the lanes for head coach
Andrew Chatmon's squad.
Louisiana Tech had one loss on the weekend and toppled 13,270 total pins for the top spot, with North Carolina A&T and Sam Houston finishing in the top three. NCAT's Payton Hartgrove, LT's Kylee Trexler and Rachel Ong and Tulane's Juanelyz Solla joined Lee and Miller in the top six of the individual standings.
The Lady Hornet keglers head to Orlando for the three-day Destination Orlando tournament, hosted by Sacred Heart University, at the AMF Sky Lanes in Central Florida from Friday, Oct. 30 through Sunday, Nov. 1.
