TOWSON, Md. – The Felician University women's bowling team earned convincing victories in its final two Baker playoff matches on Sunday to earn a ninth-place result and a 5-8 dual-match record at the James Brown Invitational, hosted by Morgan State University from Friday through Sunday at AMF Towson Lanes.
The 14-team event began on Friday with five 5-game Baker matches, followed by five traditional team matches on Saturday, with pairings determined by random draw. The schools were then seeded into a playoff bracket based on total pinfall for Sunday's three best-of-7 Baker playoff matches, which determined the final standings.
Half of the weekend's field appeared in the most recent national coaches' Top 25 poll. Eight of Felician's 13 matches came against nationally-ranked opponents, with the Golden Falcons earning two victories over No. 25 Kutztown University.
The individual standings were determined by Saturday's traditional competition. Eighty competitors started at least one match, and senior right-hander Natalie Swindell (Beachwood, N.J./Toms River South) finished 34th to lead the Felician delegation. Swindell toppled 910 pins for five matches, an average of 182.0, with a high game of 203. Junior Madelyn Weston's (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) 876 total (175.2 average) was good for 38th place. Swindell, Weston (197) and sophomore Ashley Ferrara (Beachwood, N.J./Toms River South) (210) all shot their high game of the day during a 924-779 victory over Kutztown.
The Golden Falcons sat in 10th place after each of the first two days of competition. Felician averaged 173.0 during Friday's Baker play, but could muster only one dual victory, and 855-792 triumph over Mount Aloysius College in the day's final match. Led by Swindell and Weston, Felician posted a per-game average of 167.9 on Saturday, downing Kutztown in Match 1 and Coppin State University in Match 3.
Sunday began poorly for the Golden Falcons, who lost to Kutztown, 4-0. But Felician recovered for a 4-1 victory over Fayetteville State University to set up a rubber match against the Golden Bears, which it also captured, four games to one, allowing it to slip past Kutztown into ninth place in the final standings.
No. 6 North Carolina A&T University won the tournament, defeating No. 14 Delaware State University, 4.5-0.5, in the championship match. The Aggies averaged 207.5 for the weekend. No. 11 Duquesne University, which placed third, enjoyed an event-best 11-2 dual record.
Felician (36-45) saw its record fall to 17-17 during the spring semester. The Golden Falcons are next in action at the Wildcat D-II/D-III Invitational, to be hosted by Wilmington (Del.) University from Feb. 18-20 in New Castle, Del.
