Harahan, LA – Contributed – The third-ranked Arkansas State women’s bowling team staved off elimination Saturday afternoon at the Conference USA Championship and advanced to a rematch with top-seeded Jacksonville State Sunday morning in the title match.
Facing top-seeded Jacksonville State in the semifinals of the double-elimination bracket with both teams unbeaten, the Red Wolves fell 2-0. Following Louisiana Tech’s victory over Nebraska in the contender’s bracket, A-State met the Bulldogs for a spot in the championship. The Red Wolves came away with a 4-2 win in game six of the Baker best-of-seven to force a rematch Sunday morning.
A-State (76-33) dropped the team game against Jacksonville State 1,061-930. Malaya Chavez paced the Red Wolves with a 203 while Kaylee Back (195), Amanda Lang (186) and Maggie Thoma (176) also bowled. Katie Ruszczak bowled the first three frames before Alex-Anne Auclair closed out the game at 170.
Jax State got a 24-pin advantage in Baker 5-game total pinfall with a 227-203 start, but the Red Wolves battled back to lead by five taking game two, 204-187, and three, 182-170. A-State’s 5-pin lead entering the fourth turned into a 12-pin deficit following the Gamecocks 213-196 advantage in game four and Jax State closed out the match 243-192 in the fifth.
The Red Wolves got out to a 1-0 mega-match lead against Louisiana Tech taking the traditional team game 950-821. Malaya Chavez led the way with a 224 while Maggie Thoma (204) and Kaylee Back (203) also topped 200 pins. Amanda Lang totaled 165 and Alex-Anne Auclair had 154.
Louisiana Tech evened the mega-match 1-1 winning the 5-game Baker total pinfall 964-924. A-State fell behind in the first game by five pins, 200-195, and never recovered after Louisiana Tech extended the deficit to 60 pins with a 223-168 edge in game two. The Red Wolves deficit swelled to 85 with a 229-204 tally in favor of the opponent in the third, but A-State trimmed it to 18 pins with a 203-136 in game four. Louisiana Tech closed out the 40-pin advantage taking game five 176-154.
The Red Wolves grabbed a 3-0 lead in the Baker best-of-seven and held off a furious response by Louisiana Tech to win 4-2. A-State took game one by nine pins, 222-213, followed with a 233-178 advantage, and grabbed the 3-0 lead with a 210-124 margin. Louisiana Tech took the next two games, 224-167 and 233-145, but the Red Wolves edged out a 197-193 victory to clinch the match in game six.
A-State meets Jacksonville State in a mega-match Sunday at 8:30 a.m. needing a win to force a decisive Baker best-of-seven to decide the champion. The match will air on ESPN+.