BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 27, 2020)-The Morgan State women's bowling team placed fifth over the weekend at the Red Flash Invitational at Holiday Bowl in Altoona, Pa.

The Lady Bears played themselves into the championship bracket heading into Sunday's final round. Morgan State was fourth in the field after two full days of qualifying and carried a 5-4 mark into Sunday's Bracket Round.

Leading up to Sunday's Bracket Round, on Friday Morgan State went 2-3 in the Baker total pinfall, earning wins against Laroche University and Mount Aloysius. Morgan averaged 161.2 for the day.

Saturday, the Lady Bears had better success averaging 169.8 in the Traditional Game format and had a 3-1 record on the day. Against the host team, Saint Francis-Pa., they bowled their highest pinfall total of the season in Match #2 losing in a tightly contested match coming down to the final frames, 938-922.

Four Morgan State bowlers were in the top 20 in scoring in the entire field. Ashanti Fernandes just missed earning all-tournament team honors, finishing sixth with a 187.80 average for five games. She fired a team-high 230 game in Match 4, starting with the first five strikes in a row.

Diamond Hunter placed 13^th with a 180.4 average for the day. Touri Holmes averaged over 180 for the second week in a row, averaging 180.4 in Saturday's round. Freshman and newest team member, La'Monique Berrios averaged 172.0 for five games, pacing her day with a 205 in Match #1. Berrios would place 18th for the weekend.

On Sunday, the Best 4-of-7 Baker Round had the Lady Bears, who were seeded fourth, face off against the third-seed, Saint Francis-Pa. The match progressed with the Lady Bears up 2 ½ - 1 ½ as game 3 ended up in a tie at 158-158. It was from there SFU captured the next three games to win the match 4 ½ - 2 1/2. In the seventh and deciding game the score of 198-190 in favor of SFU was one Morgan State bowled well and the outcome of the match could have easily gone in its favor, but it was not to be.

In the second match on Sunday, the Lady Bears suffered a letdown from the opening match, losing 4-1 against Walsh. In the final match of the day to determine fifth and sixth place, Morgan State outlasted Mount Aloysius 4-3, to secure fifth place, and a 6-6 record for the weekend. The Bears are now 9-7 since the break. They were 4-15 in their first semester matches.

"We responded well on Saturday, playing the lanes differently from what we learned on Friday. In our first match on Sunday against the home team, I was so proud of how our ladies competed," said Morgan State head coach Thomas Falbo. "We finished strong in game 7 which is exactly what you have to do to put yourself in the position to win. We were unfortunate in the outcome, but it's part of our growth. We'll keep working to get better each time out." 

Next up for Morgan State will be their home tournament, the James Brown Invitational on February 14-16, 2020 at AMF Towson Lanes in Towson, Md.