Prairie View A&M wins second consecutive SWAC Women's Bowling Championship
March 21, 2021
ARLINGTON, Texas - Prairie View A&M claimed its second consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Women's Bowling Championship on Sunday to earn an automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Bowling Championship.
The Lady Panthers emerged from the elimination bracket to advance to the title match at the International Training and Research Center and defeated Jackson State twice in the best-of-seven Baker finals, winning both matches 4-2.
The championship match will air Monday, March 29 at 6 p.m. Eastern on ESPNU. BowlTV.com provided livestream coverage of Friday's and Saturday's qualifying and match-play rounds.
The title tilt nearly mirrored the 2019 SWAC Women's Bowling Championship finals, with Jackson State entering the finals undefeated and Prairie View A&M needing a pair of victories to win the event. The Lady Panthers recorded wins of 4-3 and 4-0 to claim the 2019 conference title.
The 2020 SWAC Women's Bowling Championships was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Sunday's opening match, Prairie View A&M grabbed the early 3-1 lead, but Jackson State captured Game 5, 207-183, to extend the contest. In Game 6, Prairie View A&M took the advantage with strikes in five of its first seven frames and rolled to a 216-193 victory to force a second match.
The second match saw the Lady Panthers get ahead, 2-0, with a clutch finish in Game 2 by sophomore Patricia Rosales. Rosales, the 2019 SWAC Bowler and Rookie of the Year, delivered three strikes in the final frame to help Prairie View A&M edge Jackson State, 196-192.
Jackson State bounced back in Games 3 and 4, recording a pair of wins to even the match, 2-2 (216-192 and 233-204). Prairie View A&M claimed Game 5, 199-156, and sealed the conference title in Game 6 in part to its spare shooting, posting a clean 187-167 win.
Rosales also was named the tournament MVP, and she was joined in victory by Asia Wren, Crystal Cline, Cheyenne Washington, Stephanie Vasquez, Sonja Ortiz, Ashlyn Okazaki and Ivelisse Reyes.
The event featured seven teams bowling five traditional qualifying games Friday to determine the six programs advancing to the double-elimination match-play bracket. The top two teams from Friday's qualifying session earned first-round byes in match play.
Prairie View A&M averaged more than 210 as a team Friday to earn the top seed in the bracket, posting a 5,265 total. Jackson State qualified second with 4,748.
Both teams won their first match in the bracket Saturday to set up a showdown for a spot in the finals. Prairie View A&M won the first game, before the Lady Tigers rolled to four consecutive wins to advance, 4-1.
Prairie View A&M advanced to the finals after sweeping No. 6 Southern, 4-0.
In addition to the team victory, the Lady Panthers also had the top three student-athletes in the individual standings. Wren led the way with a 1,119 total (223.8 average) and was followed by Rosales (1,084) and Cline (1,082). Jackson State's Capri Howard (1,025) and Kaia Gray (1,023) also earned spots on the all-tournament team.
Prairie View A&M now will look toward the 2021 NCAA Bowling Championship, which will be held April 7-10 at AMF Pro Bowl Lanes in North Kansas City, Missouri. The event will feature 16 teams, with six teams earning spots through its conference tournament. The other 10 teams will be at-large selections and announced Wednesday, March 31.
The Lady Panthers emerged from the elimination bracket to advance to the title match at the International Training and Research Center and defeated Jackson State twice in the best-of-seven Baker finals, winning both matches 4-2.
The championship match will air Monday, March 29 at 6 p.m. Eastern on ESPNU. BowlTV.com provided livestream coverage of Friday's and Saturday's qualifying and match-play rounds.
The title tilt nearly mirrored the 2019 SWAC Women's Bowling Championship finals, with Jackson State entering the finals undefeated and Prairie View A&M needing a pair of victories to win the event. The Lady Panthers recorded wins of 4-3 and 4-0 to claim the 2019 conference title.
The 2020 SWAC Women's Bowling Championships was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Sunday's opening match, Prairie View A&M grabbed the early 3-1 lead, but Jackson State captured Game 5, 207-183, to extend the contest. In Game 6, Prairie View A&M took the advantage with strikes in five of its first seven frames and rolled to a 216-193 victory to force a second match.
The second match saw the Lady Panthers get ahead, 2-0, with a clutch finish in Game 2 by sophomore Patricia Rosales. Rosales, the 2019 SWAC Bowler and Rookie of the Year, delivered three strikes in the final frame to help Prairie View A&M edge Jackson State, 196-192.
Jackson State bounced back in Games 3 and 4, recording a pair of wins to even the match, 2-2 (216-192 and 233-204). Prairie View A&M claimed Game 5, 199-156, and sealed the conference title in Game 6 in part to its spare shooting, posting a clean 187-167 win.
Rosales also was named the tournament MVP, and she was joined in victory by Asia Wren, Crystal Cline, Cheyenne Washington, Stephanie Vasquez, Sonja Ortiz, Ashlyn Okazaki and Ivelisse Reyes.
The event featured seven teams bowling five traditional qualifying games Friday to determine the six programs advancing to the double-elimination match-play bracket. The top two teams from Friday's qualifying session earned first-round byes in match play.
Prairie View A&M averaged more than 210 as a team Friday to earn the top seed in the bracket, posting a 5,265 total. Jackson State qualified second with 4,748.
Both teams won their first match in the bracket Saturday to set up a showdown for a spot in the finals. Prairie View A&M won the first game, before the Lady Tigers rolled to four consecutive wins to advance, 4-1.
Prairie View A&M advanced to the finals after sweeping No. 6 Southern, 4-0.
In addition to the team victory, the Lady Panthers also had the top three student-athletes in the individual standings. Wren led the way with a 1,119 total (223.8 average) and was followed by Rosales (1,084) and Cline (1,082). Jackson State's Capri Howard (1,025) and Kaia Gray (1,023) also earned spots on the all-tournament team.
Prairie View A&M now will look toward the 2021 NCAA Bowling Championship, which will be held April 7-10 at AMF Pro Bowl Lanes in North Kansas City, Missouri. The event will feature 16 teams, with six teams earning spots through its conference tournament. The other 10 teams will be at-large selections and announced Wednesday, March 31.