SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Alabama State University women's bowling team had a roller coaster of a weekend, defeating a ranked opponent while getting a tough draw in facing four of the nation's top ten teams at this weekend's Bulldog Classic, hosted by Louisiana Tech, at Bowlero Thousand Oaks this past weekend.
The Hornets (18-21 overall) had to compete with some of the top teams in the nation, including three straight teams from the jump, and despite some adversity, it stood strong and remained competitive to secure five victories over the weekend. It entered the day in tenth place after the first two days of competition, and retained its spot following the final three matches today.
Baker play on the first day opened with No. 20 UAB, No. 5 Nebraska and No. 17 Tulane, with seventh-ranked Louisiana Tech closing out a brutal opening day. While most teams would tremble at the sight of that schedule, ASU got right to work, handing the Blazers a 955-869 defeat to open the day with a win. After a pair of tough losses that followed, it got an opportunity to bounce back against Alabama A&M, which it thoroughly took advantage of, topping the Bulldogs, 929-705, while utilizing that momentum to put up a strong fight in a 17-pin loss to the hosting Louisiana Tech squad.
The second day started similarly to the first, as the Hornets dispatched Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opponent Texas Southern, 878-872, before dropping its second match to another conference foe, Prairie View A&M, 900-872. Its interesting draw showed its head again, as the Black and Gold had to battle No. 3 Wichita State and No. 2 Vanderbilt in back-to-back outings, with the two matches being two of the team's three highest-scoring outings of the weekend. It capped off Saturday with an 896-857 showing against Grambling State.
Thanks to its tenth-place pinfall total that topped a second tier of teams, it was rewarded with three more ranked battles in best-of-seven Baker play on Sunday. It would win its first, upsetting 12th-ranked Newman, 4-1, with a pair of 230+ pin games in the third and fifth head-to-head. It would move up in the bracket to face the 21st-ranked Beacons of Valparaiso, and the same five-game result ended up tilting in favor of the Hornets' opposition. It would conclude the day with another battle against Newman, and while it was forced to an additional, sixth game, the Jets took the 4-2 win to finish off the weekend.
Similar to its team standings, the Hornets keglers were among the best bowlers of the up-and-coming bunch. ASU was led by
Jenna Knight, who had a 192 pinfall average with a high of 215 against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Olivia Miller (29th) and
Alicen Ichimura (30th) finished with near-identical marks, with the former also adding a 200 game in the Vanderbilt defeat while the latter had a team-best 248 game against Wichita State. Sophomore
Taylor Lee finished 47th, while rookie
Morgan Winchell finished 57th and
Nevaeh Williams came in on the back half of the Prairie View A&M contest.
The battle at the top saw third-ranked Wichita State upset second-ranked Vanderbilt with a 4-2 win in the championship round for the tournament's top prize. Individually, the Shockers' Sara Duque bowled a 228.2 average as the tournament's top player, while the Commodores had a pair of bowlers in the top five.
The Lady Hornets return to Texas for a final tournament in the 2026 portion of the season, when it competes in the TRACK Kat Klash, hosted by Sam Houston State at the Emerald Bowl in Houston, from Friday, Nov. 13 through Sunday, Nov. 15.
