ORLANDO, Fla. – The Alabama State University women's bowling team had another stellar three-day outing at the Destination Orlando Tournament, hosted by Sacred Heart University, where it went 6-7 while defeating a trio of top-20 teams on its way to a 14th-place finish at the AMF Sky Lanes this past Friday through Sunday.
The Hornets (13-13 overall) had strong performances on all three days, securing two baker wins on Friday, and splitting its six traditional games while winning an additional best-of-seven baker match in bracket play against 17th-ranked Tulane to round out a stellar outing. Individually, sophomore
Taylor Lee had another big performance, bowling a 202.67 pin average to finish 31st, while rookies
Alicen Ichimura (199.83, 35th) and
Morgan Winchell (193.17, 48th) joined her in the top 50 with three 200-pin games apiece and key performances in each of the team's victories.
Each day would pit the Lady Hornets against tough competition, with the first two contests of the tournament – first against No. 5 Nebraska and then against No. 2 Vanderbilt – being evidence of the challenge ahead. After fighting tough against both, including a tight, 33-pin loss against the Commodores, Bama State found success against Saint Anselm in a 927-743 win, and added another victory to close out the day against Emmanuel, 966-839.
Traditional play saw Alabama State lean more into the win column, as while the team faced just one unranked team, it punched higher than its preseason standing, starting with a huge, 60-pin victory over 20th-ranked UAB, 995-935. A pair of top-15 teams set back ASU in the two matches that followed, but it returned to the win column with a 1072-836 performance against Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) foe Southern. That led to the team's first top-15 win of the season, a 23-pin win over No. 14 Niagara (933-910). It concluded team competition in Sunday's first match, a loss against the 2024 National Champion Penguins of Youngstown State.
Best-of-seven baker play opened with a bang, as ASU jumped out to a 2-1 lead, fought through a 189-189 tie in game six, and claimed a 4.5-2.5 win over No. 17 Tulane, giving the Hornets its first victory over the Green Wave in three tries this season while putting it on a path to vie for 13th place. Unfortunately, a strong No. 25 Maryland-Eastern Shore team continued its roll after defeating a higher-ranked Bryant squad and went on to beat ASU, 4-2, to close out the weekend.
In addition to the three top-50 performances above,
Jenna Knight finished 53rd with a 191.33 average, while
Nevaeh Williams and
Olivia Miller also saw time on the lanes in Central Florida.
Reigning National Champion and top-ranked Jacksonville State went 11-1 on the weekend and secured the tournament's top spot, followed by No. 5 Nebraska (10-3) and No. 3 Wichita State (8-4). The top individual keglers featured Vanderbilt's Katelyn Abigania (243.5 avg), followed by Kaitlyn Stull of Jacksonville State (240.33 avg.) and Nebraska's Brenna Hartzler (240.17 avg.).
The Lady Hornets look ahead to back-to-back Texas trips to wrap up the season, first at the Bulldog Classic in San Antonio, hosted by Louisiana Tech, on Nov. 6-8, followed by the TRACK Kat Klash, put on by Sam Houston State in Houston, from Nov. 13-15.
