ADDISON, Ill. – The McKendree University women's bowling will have to fight through the loser's bracket if it wants to earn the Intercollegiate Team Championship trophy on Saturday following a 4-1 loss to Delaware State in the first round of Red Bracket play at the Stardust Bowl.
Prior to Thursday evening's loss to Delaware State in the first game of the best-of-seven Baker bracket play, the 2022 NCAA Women's Bowling Champion Bearcats earn the top seed in the Red Bracket after 24 games of Baker format qualifying.
In 24 games of Baker qualifying, McKendree was in fourth place after the first 12 games with a total of 2,393 pins, but they rallied in the second 12 games to finish in first place with a total of 4,874 pins. In the second 12 game block of Baker games, the Bearcats recorded 2,481 pins. The Bearcats averaged 203.08 per game in its 24 Baker qualifying games.
With its first-place finish in qualifying, the Bearcats earned the No. 1 seed in the Red Bracket, and they faced No. 16 seeded Delaware State in the first Baker bracket game. DSU would win four of the five games to advance to a second-round match-up with Pikeville.
McKendree fell into the loser's bracket and will now need to win six games on Friday to advance to Saturday's finals, which is a 3-of-5 Baker match that will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. The championship final will match-up the winner of the Red Bracket against the winner of the Blue Bracket.
The Bearcats begin play on Friday with a 7:45 a.m. match against SCAD Savannah, who lost their first-round match, 4-0 to Pikeville. A win over SCAD Savannah, will give the Bearcats a match at 9:45 a.m. against Saint Xavier in the fourth round. The Red Bracket final is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. on Friday with an if-necessary match scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
After Thursday's first day of action at the Intercollegiate Team Championships, four teams are 2-0 as the Red Bracket teams that are 2-0 are Pikeville and NCAA National Runners-up Stephen F. Austin, while the 2-0 team in the Blue Bracket are Wichita State, who was the No. 2 team in Thursday's qualifying and St. Francis (Ill.).
