ADDISON, Ill. – The McKendree University women's bowling team completed its successful 2021-22 season here Friday by winning two of its three elimination round bracket play matches at the Intercollegiate Team Championships at the Stardust Bowl.
 
McKendree, who earned the No. 1 seed in bracket play after finishing first in Thursday's 24 Baker qualifying games, needed to win six straight elimination games on Friday to advance to Saturday's championship final, but the Bearcats fell three wins shy of that goal and fell 4-0 in a fifth-round match to Mount St. Mary's, who the Bearcats defeated in six Baker games to claim the 2022 NCAA Erie Regional title to earn a spot in the NCAA National Championships Final Four, to end its tournament run.
 
Prior to loss to Mount St. Mary's, who was the No. 4 seed in the Red Bracket, McKendree, who captured the program's second-ever NCAA National Championship in women's bowling last Saturday, opened Friday's play with a 4-0 shutout loss in their first match of the day to SCAD Savannah to improve to 1-1 in the tournament.
 
The win over SCAD Savannah set up a second elimination best-of-7 Baker game with Saint Xavier and the Bearcats would eventually prevail 4-2 to improve to 2-1 in the event and move onto the fifth round and third straight elimination round match against Mount St. Mary's.
 
Mount St. Mary's would fall in the next round to Pikeville, 4-3 to end its stay at the tournament.
 
Saturday's championship match will feature Stephen F. Austin against Wichita State, who is the defending champion of the Intercollegiate Team Championships. The Bearcats defeated the Ladyjacks 4-0 in this past Saturday's NCAA Championship final match.
 
The eight bowlers that played for the Bearcats at this year's ITC Championships was sophomore Isabel Allen (Tamworth, England/Polesworth High), fifth-year senior Isabella Correa Sarmiento (Cali, Colombia/Colegio Leonistico La Merced), graduate student Cassidy Courey (Brooklyn Center, Minn./Mount Mercy), senior Hope Gramly (Prosper, Texas/Prosper), junior Rebecca Hagerman (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem), fifth-year senior Britaney Myers (Mechanicsville, NY/Stillwater), junior Maranda Pattison (Redwood Valley, Calif./Ukiah Independent) and junior Kayla Smith (Salem, Ill./Salem).