Women's Bowling | 1/21/2023 8:38:00 PM
DEPTFORD, NJ – North Carolina A&T will get it figured out. The second-ranked collegiate bowling team in the nation is too good not to figure things out.
But the Aggies had their second straight uncharacteristic day at the SHU Northeast Classic hosted by Sacred Heart University at Bowlero. In traditional play on Saturday, the Aggies went 3-2, an improvement from their 1-4 showing in Baker play on Friday.
The Aggies are in eighth place with 9,910 for a per-game average of 198.2. A&T knocked down 4,932 pins on Saturday. The Aggies will open best-of-seven bracket play against seventh-seed and sixth-ranked Arkansas State.
Unfortunately, the Aggies will see their three-tournament winning streak end this weekend. The highest the Aggies can finish on Sunday during best-of-seven bracket play is fifth. But for the Aggies, Sunday will be about recovering their form after a two-month layoff from competition.
Junior Melanie Katen led the way for A&T on Saturday, bowling 200-plus in four games and totaling 1,017 pins for a five-game average of 203.40. She is in 36th place. Senior Lauren Tomaszewski placed 39th on Saturday. She had three games in the 200's, totaling 1,009 pins to average 201.80 in five games.
Sophomore Chloe Newberry posted the team high for A&T with a 266. Newberry almost surpassed her career high, coming short of the 269 she bowled against Tulane on November 5, 2022.
Newberry totaled 964 pins to average 192.20 over five games. Senior Jada Bassette bowled three games in the 200s, totaled 951 pins, and averaged 190.20 over five games.
A&T scored a victory in the first traditional match of the day as they easily defeated Adelphi 1,011-792. Newberry's 266 led the way, followed by Katen's 201. Twenty-third-ranked University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, handed the Aggies their first loss on Saturday, defeating A&T 1,001-996 in one of the closest contests of the day.
Tomaszewski had her best showing of the day in the tough loss, bowling a 221. Katen also had her best showing, providing a 215 for A&T. But Kelly Whipple's 267 proved too much for the Aggies to overcome.
A&T recovered and defeated Wilmington University (DE) 1,004-940. Graduate Katie Robb, who totaled 759 pins in four games to average 189.75, came through in the Aggies third game by posting a season-high 231 in the win. Game 4 saw A&T beat Mount Aloysius College 973-698. Tomaszewski led A&T with a 213, and Robb had her second straight solid game with a 212. Katen contributed a 205.
But in a matchup with fellow National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll top-10 team Sam Houston State University (SHSU), the eighth-ranked Bearkats defeated A&T 972-948.
In her only game bowled on Saturday, Sophomore Maya Avilez came up big for A&T. She bowled a season-high 232 as Tomaszewski followed with a 212. But SHSU had three bowlers bowl better than 200, led by Kaia Gray's 212.
The Aggies are 4-6 for the tournament and 44-12 overall this season.
