Stephen F. Austin
Bethune Cookman Wildcat Invitational
Stephen F. Austin Undefeated on Day One of Wildcat Invitational
10/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Bowling
Bethune-Cookman Wildcat Invitational
Boardwalk Bowl | Orlando, Fla.
Result: Stephen F. Austin goes 4-0 on day one, sits fifth in scoring average
Round Two: Saturday, October 22 | 9:00 am.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Stephen F. Austin picked up where it left off last season, going perfect over the opening day of competition in the season-opening Bethune-Cookman Wildcat Invitational in Orlando, Florida. The Ladyjacks were one of only two teams to go perfect on the opening day of competition and sit fifth among the team scoring average following baker-style matches.
Dating back to the 2016 NCAA National Championships, second-ranked SFA has won its last 10 head-to-head matches, including the final six in the championship tournament and the 4-0 start to the 2016-17 season this afternoon.
The reigning champion Ladyjacks opened up the tournament facing Fairleigh Dickinson and defeated the Knights 934-917 to begin their title defense. Starting off with a 191-172 victory, SFA then went over 200 in both the second (202-189) and fourth (203-184) games, closing out the win with a 183-178 fifth game.
SFA then met up with Southland Bowling League foe Monmouth and opened up with a 214-199 win over the Hawks in game one. The Ladyjacks dropped the next two and found themselves in a 48-pin deficit with two games to play, but SFA rallied with a 223-177 win in game four, followed by a 187-172 decision in the final game to take the match against Monmouth 962-949.
The Ladyjacks had a bye in round three before meeting up with North Carolina A&T in round four. SFA dropped the opener 171-167, but would win three of the next four, including a 192-160 decision in game two and a 189-160 mark in the final game, notching its third victory at 942-883 over the Aggies.
SFA closed out the opening day of competition against host Bethune-Cookman and concluded the baker-style matches with a 963-880 victory over the Wildcats. The Ladyjacks won the first four games of the match, highlighted by a day-high score of 245 in the third, closing out the opening round with 4,677 total pins.
With the opening day of competition in the books, rival Sam Houston State leads the team standings with a 202.9 average, followed by SBL foe Arkansas State with a 199.0 average. Top-ranked Nebraka (193.1) is third with Monmouth (190.2) and the Ladyjacks (187.5) rounding out the top-five. However, only Prairie View A&M (5-0) joined SFA as the schools that are still undefeated on the year.
Saturday’s second round gets underway at 9:00 a.m. CT as the 13-team field will compete in five traditional style matches. SFA opens the day facing Alabama State and Florida A&M, then has a challenging double-header against top-ranked Nebraska and third-ranked Arkansas State before closing out the day against SBL foe Tulane. Scoring updates throughout the day are available on Twitter @SFA_Bowling.
2016 Bethune-Cookman Round One Results
Baker-style matches
Match One: SFA 934, Fairleigh Dickinson 917
W, 191-172; W, 202-189; L, 194-155; W, 203-184; W, 183-178
Match Two: SFA 962, Monmouth 949
W, 214-199; L, 169-150; L, 232-188; W, 223-177; W, 187-172
Match Three: SFA 942, North Carolina A&T 883
L, 171-167; W, 192-160; W, 202-198; L, 194-192; W, 189-160
Match Four: SFA 963, Bethune-Cookman 880
W, 165-161; W, 185-183; W, 245-183; W, 199-163; L, 190-169
-SFA-
