TOWSON, Md. - - The Wilmington University women's bowling team wrapped up its inaugural season by competing at the James Brown Invitational over the week, bpwling at the AMF Towson Lanes in a tournament hosted by Morgan State University.
The Wildcats set new personal and team highs throughout the invitational, which proved how much the team has improved since their first tournament in November. In their debut in November the team averaged a score of 609 in traditional matches at the Chestnut Hill Duals, but on Saturday in five traditional matches at the James Brown Invitational, the Wildcats averaged a score of 732.
The Wildcats fell in all five of their Baker Matches on Friday, dropping contests to Howard, St. Peter's, Caldwell, Saint Francis (PA), and Norfolk State. The Wildcats had a shot against Howard in the first match of the tournament, falling by just 33 pins. They put together a late run, putting down 181 pins in the final game to close the gap, but Howard's 147 kept them in front.
The team started Saturday off on the right foot, setting a new team high traditional score of 802 against New Jersey City, but the Gothic Knights held on for the 812-802 victory. Both Alyssa Kalafut and Monique Rojas set new season highs in the match against New Jersey City, as Kalafut bowled a 151 and Rojas bowled a day's high 203.
To other bowlers set new season high game scores on Saturday as well, as Kaley Smith bowled a 187 against Coppin State and Auryonah Nash put together a 139 game in during the bye round. Rakia Jenkins had a day's high of 183 against Coppin State.
Jenkins led the Wildcats on Saturday with a 172.6 average in the five matches, followed by Rojas' 164.8 average score. Smith wasn't far behind Rojas with a 160.6 average in five games while Kalafut averaged a 118.8 and Nash bowled a 115.6 average.
Playing for the standings on Sunday, the Wildcats fell to Coppin State in the best of seven Baker Games, 4-2. The Wildcats jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead over Coppin State with scores of 176-163 and 179-155, but the Eagles answered back with four straight wins to take the match. But the Wildcats set a new Baker Match team high score in the process, totaling 812 pins in the best of seven series. The Wildcats finished 13th of 13 at the tournament.
Friday, February 17 – Baker Matches
Match 1 vs. Howard University – Loss – 797-764
Howard – 139, 169, 182, 160, 147
WilmU – 151, 155, 124, 153, 181
Match 2 vs. St. Peter's University – Loss – 769-688
St. Peter's – 148, 150, 183, 148, 140
WilmU – 104, 138, 156, 141, 149
Match 3 vs. Caldwell University – Loss – 867-646
Caldwell – 162, 146, 181, 198, 180
WilmU – 154,145, 138, 100, 109
Match 4 vs. Saint Francis (Pa) University – Loss – 774-671
St. Francis – 154, 173, 136, 157, 154
WilmU – 117, 93, 145, 134, 182
Match 5 vs. Norfolk State University – Loss – 897-684
NSU – 204, 179, 178, 155, 181
WilmU – 108, 161, 156, 129, 130
Saturday, February 18 – Traditional Matches
Match 1 vs. New Jersey City University – Loss – 812-802 (New Team High Series)
Match 2 vs. BYE – 712
Match 3 vs. Mt. Aloysius University – Loss – 812-657
Match 4 vs. Coppin State University – Loss – 864-787
Match 5 vs. Monmouth University – Loss – 875-704
Scores:
Kaley Smith – 134, 143, 186, 187, 153 – 803 – 160.6 AVG
Alyssa Kalafut – 151, 98, 112, 106, 127 – 594 – 118.8 AVG
Auryonah Nash – 137, 139, 94, 117, 91 – 578 – 115.6 AVG
Monique Rojas – 203, 152, 115, 194, 160 – 824 – 164.8 AVG
Rakia Jenkins – 177, 180, 150, 183, 173 – 863 – 172.6 AVG
New Personal High Games in Bold
Sunday, February 19 – Position Round (Best of 7)
Vs. Coppin State – Loss – 4-2
WilmU – 176, 179, 156, 169, 132, 139 (812 - New Baker Game High Total)
Coppin State – 163, 155, 185, 193, 137, 156