McKendree women could strike for a bowling national championship

McKendree University had another solid day on the lanes Friday during day two action at the 2017 NCAA Women’s Bowling Championships.

After winning all five of its qualifying-round matches to open competition on Thursday at Raising Cane’s River Center, the Bearcats secured the top overall seed in the eight-team, double-elimination bracket with a victory in its first match of the day against Vanderbilt University. Once bracket play began Friday afternoon, McKendree defeated Sam Houston State University and the University of Nebraska to move along in the winner’s bracket.

Thanks to its two wins Saturday afternoon, McKendree will return to the lanes Saturday at 10:20 a.m. to square off against the winner of a consolation bracket match between Sam Houston State and Arkansas State University. McKendree and Vanderbilt are the lone remaining undefeated teams left in the championship bracket after winning their first- and second-round matches in Saturday afternoon play. McKendree will be competing for a spot in the finals of the 2017 NCAA Women’s Bowling Championships that will air on ESPNU at 5:30 p.m.

“Our girls were making great all day long, especially against Vanderbilt, but they weren’t falling early,” said McKendree women’s bowling coach Shannon O’Keefe. “But they didn’t panic. They were making the right moves and doing the right things on the lanes. We just told them to keep going, do what you’re doing. Fill frames and make your shots, and things will start falling. And they did. It’s that kind of effort that has put them in the position they are in right now.”

McKendree bowled a total of four matches on Friday, beginning with the final two games in qualifying play in the morning. Up first was Vanderbilt, and for most of the contest it appeared that the Commodores would end the Bearcats’ undefeated run in pool play. However, McKendree rallied over the final three frames, and a strike from freshman Breanna Clemmer in the anchor position sealed the come-from-behind effort and ran the Bearcats’ win streak to six to open the NCAA Championships.

More importantly, the win helped McKendree lock up the No. 1 seed heading into the double-elimination bracket. Last season, in its first visit to the NCAA Women’s Bowling Championships, the Bearcats were seeded eighth, although they followed up by winning two contests to earn a Final Four finish.

After the Vanderbilt win, McKendree closed out qualifying play against the University of Nebraska. The Bearcats were unable to complete the perfect run through pool play by dropping a 1,079-952 decision to the Huskers.

Friday afternoon, McKendree opened bracket play by facing eighth-seeded Sam Houston State. The teams split the first two games in the best-of-seven Baker match before McKendree grabbed scratched out a win in game three and posted a 200-189 decision in game four to build a 3-1 lead. The Bearcats then put the exclamation point on an opening-round victory with a convincing 236-183 to advance in the winner’s bracket.

Up next for McKendree was a rematch against Nebraska, who won its first-round contest over Fairleigh Dickinson University. The Bearcats stormed to an early lead in the first game and posted a 221-187 win. Nebraska bounced right back and tied the match at 1-1. The Huskers appeared to be on their way to a 2-1 lead before the Bearcats mounted a comeback over the final four frames. Clemmer put the finishing touch on McKendree’s 201-190 win by throwing two strikes in the 10th frame.

“Our M.O., our motto for the last few years, is to hang tight and just keep coming. We saw that in the Vanderbilt match this morning, and we saw in during that Nebraska match in bracket play.”

Once again, Nebraska bounced back to defeat McKendree in the fourth game to square things at 2-2 before the Bearcats took control. Game five resulted in a 236-198 win for McKendree before the top seed finished off Nebraska in the sixth game thanks to a 212-166 triumph.

By starting the 2017 NCAA Women’s Bowling Championships with eight wins in its first nine matches, McKendree improves to 85-24 in match play this season.

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 11:22 PM with the headline "McKendree women could strike for a bowling national championship."