Women’s Bowling closes season at NAIA National Championship

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (March 24, 2023) – The Milligan University women's bowling team concluded its inaugural season at the 2022-23 NAIA National Championship at Five Star Lanes in Michigan on Friday.

DAY 2 RESULTS

After earning the ninth seed in qualifying yesterday, Taylor Davis, Brianna Rickert, Laci MacQuisten, Elizabeth Coutta and Emily Cheesman went 1-2 in bracket play, ultimately bowing out in the third round of Friday's action.

In the opening baker match against No. 8 seed Cumberlands, the Buffs raced out to a 2-0 start in the best-of-five series with 216-151 and 225-209 triumphs. The Patriot won the next two games to create a winner-take-all final game. The Buffs bowled to a 197-169 victory to advance in the winners bracket.

"In our first match against the University of Cumberlands we came out hot and won the first two games," said head coach Brian Rickert. "I give Cumberlands a ton of credit as they have a great squad of ladies and fought back to win games three and four. Our ladies were able to dig deep and take game 5 to move on to the next round."

The Buffs matched up with top-seeded Indiana Tech in the second round. The Warriors edged the Buffs 182-179 in the opening game on their way to establishing a 2-0 lead

"Against Indiana Tech, we learned though that against the top teams in the country, you can't give them any room as they took advantage of our miscues in game one," said Rickert. "If we just make one of our missed spares in that game, we win versus giving them a three pin victory. It completely changed the pace of the match from the start and we were fighting uphill after losing the first two."

Milligan battled back with 169-160 and 171-137 wins to force a decisive fifth game. The Warriors emerged victorious with a 232-177 win to send the Buffs to the elimination bracket.

"To our credit, the ladies fought like they've done all year and made it go the distance in game five," said Rickert.

Milligan squared off with No. 10 seed Madonna, who dispatched the Buffs in four games as the Crusaders went over 200 in all three of their wins.

"Against Madonna, we just couldn't get our game on track and they took the match from us," said Rickert.

The Buffs' first season of women's bowling was a historic one, as Milligan claimed the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship, earned a spot in the ITS/ITC Sectionals, qualified for the NAIA National Championship and won at game at nationals in 2022-23.

"Overall, this season was a tremendous success as we took a very young team all the way to the National Championship," said Rickert. "We return all our players into next season along with adding some excellent talent. If we continue working hard and staying locked in to our vision, we will have a chance to make another deep run next season."

Milligan Bracket Play Results

Round 1
Milligan def. Cumberlands 3-2
216-151, 225-209, 167-203, 179-187, 197-169

Round 2
Indiana Tech def. Milligan 3-2
182-179, 193-167, 160-169, 137-171, 232-177

Round 3
Madonna def. Milligan 3-1
214-177, 188-191, 217-168, 206-190