WILMINGTON, Del. - - The Wilmington University bowling team defeated Coppin State, 4-1, to earn ninth place at the Griffin Baker Classic on Sunday afternoon at Bowlerama.

The Wildcats started the day in eighth place and went 1-3 in Baker matches on Sunday prior to the Baker Bracket best-of-seven match against Coppin State.

Sunday started with losses to Caldwell (893-867) and Molloy (1,011-848) before the team rebounded to defeat Coppin State, 968-845. Wagner defeated the Wildcats in the final Baker match of the tournament, 886-845.

The Wildcats qualified ninth after nine Baker Matches and found themselves against Coppin State in the best-of-seven bracket round.

Coppin State came out strong and took the first game, 176-147, but then the Wildcats settled in and won the next four games to win the match. They had their best showing in game two, 205-142, but then won game three, 181-177, game four, 170-66, and closed it out in game five, 173-169.

Genna Closs led the Wildcats over the weekend in averaging 18.44 pins per frame. Sydney Jones was second with an 18.26 frame average while Desiree Dent carried an 18.02 frame average. Genna Closs had 44 strikes to lead the team as well.

The Wildcats are off this weekend but return later this month while hosting the Wildcat DII/DIII Invitational. The home tournament begins on Friday, February 17 at Bowlerama.