Morgan State Finishes 5th At James Brown Invitational; Fernandes, Miranda Vega Earn All-Tournament Honors

Women's Bowling 2/15/2021 6:09:00 PM MSU Bowling Office

Morgan State Finishes 5th At James Brown Invitational; Fernandes, Miranda Vega Earn All-Tournament Honors

BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 15, 2021) -- The Morgan State University Lady Bears' bowling team finished fifth in the annual James Brown Invitational this past weekend in their home tournament at AMF Country Club Lanes.

Wins were tough to come by for the Lady Bears as they faced a six-team field against four National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) nationally ranked teams and Coppin State, who received votes in the latest NTCA Coaches Poll. However, there were some standout performances by individual players on the Bears roster and the team.

Friday's round was five matches of five-game total pinfall Baker. The Lady Bears had a sluggish start in Baker play in their first four losses against Coppin State, North Carolina A&T, Delaware State and Duquesne. The chemistry began to click in Match 5 against Youngstown State, who is ranked #8 in the latest NTCA Coaches Poll. A match that saw Morgan State stay within range of the Lady Penguins, Youngstown State strung just enough strikes at the end of Game 5 to stop the charge of Morgan, taking the victory 924-883.

"Baker play requires shot making regardless of the position in the line up," said Morgan State head coach Thomas Falbo. "This team was unified the entire day with belief in each other and fighting for every shot even when the scoring wasn't going our way. By being resilient Match 5 was a giant growth step in our execution which continued into Saturday."

Saturday's round at the James Brown Invitational started with honoring all seniors and especially Morgan State's senior captain, Touri Holmes (Piscataway, NJ/New Jersey Edison High School) in a moving tribute by the players and Coach Falbo prior to the day's competition.

Saturday's round still produced no wins for the Bears, but comparing the first four rounds of Friday when the Bears were learning the ropes, to the first four rounds of Saturday's Traditional Game matches was a difference of 20 pins in game average. In Match 1, Morgan State and conference opponent, #15^th ranked Delaware State had a close opening round battle, with the Hornets winning over the Bears 913-865. Junior, Ashanti Fernandes and first-year junior Natalia Miranda Vega paced Morgan State with games of 212 and 190 respectively.

Match 2 saw the #17^th ranked Duquesne Dukes being too much for Morgan State in a decisive 947-790 win. Miranda Vega led the Bears in scoring with a 212.

In Match 3, Morgan State shot their highest set with a 945 against #8 Youngstown State. The match again came down to the final frames with Youngstown finding enough fire to hold off the momentum the Bears displayed through the final frames. Fernandez fired a 234 to lead Morgan State and senior, Touri Holmes followed with a 191.

Match 4 was the Battle of Baltimore, with Coppin State powering past Morgan State 934-873. Miranda Vega lead all scorers with a 221 and Ashanti Fernandes contributed with a 194.

Match 5 saw #13 North Carolina A&T with a strong win over the tired arms of Morgan State, 973-781.

Coach Falbo said of Saturday's round, "From the first day we said to do this right it has to be about constant growth. With that mindset, over time the outcome will be positive and lasting. Growth happened for our team beginning the last round yesterday and continued through the first four matches today. We put our team against the best and are seeing their hard work paying off in their scoring and fight."

Sunday's round was the Best of 7 Baker match play. The highlight of the day was seeing Morgan State winning fifth-place by beating Coppin State 4-3. Morgan State took a commanding 3-0 lead with firing games of 185, 191 and 188, only to see Coppin State fight back to tie the match 3-3. Coppin State had lane choice and the Bears responded by committing to their lines and each other to take a convincing 197-147 Game 7 win for a fifth-place finish.

"You have to put teams away when you're up 3-0. But in this case, the turn of events saw our team learn to overcome adversity," said Falbo. "There isn't much more adversity than seeing a 3-0 lead evaporate and the other team with lane choice. Our communication before that last round was outstanding and their eyes told me what was going to happen."

Morgan State placed two players on the JBI All-Tournament Team in a strong field of nationally ranked teams. Ashanti Fernandes made all-tournament first team by averaging 192.8 with games of 203, 160, 234, 194, 173. Natalia Miranda Vega earned all-tournament second team with a 190.0 average with games of 190, 212, 181, 221, 146.

Coach Falbo added about Fernandes, "Ashanti has grown with time and she is able to work the ball with her hand so well. She created different angles and was able to stay strong Saturday and adapt to such quick reads in transition. I'm very happy to see her earn her first all-tournament team honors and the positive energy she brings to the team."

About Miranda Vega's performance, Falbo stated, "Natalia was in control all day, even in Game 5 where she caught unfortunate carry. Her physical game is so sound and her mental cues are unique and powerful. She is one with this team and we are all proud of her all-tournament performance in her first full weekend tournament in the NCAA."

The Morgan State bowling team's next stop finds them traveling to Greensboro, N.C. this coming weekend for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season match on February 19^-21 at Triad Lanes.

ashanti_natalia — Ashanti Fernandes (L) and Natalia Miranda Vega

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Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution offering more than 126 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.

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Players Mentioned

#16 Ashanti Fernandes: 5' 4"; Junior

#9 Touri Holmes: 5' 6"; Senior

Natalia Miranda Vega: Freshman

Players Mentioned

#16 Ashanti Fernandes
: 5' 4"; Junior

#9 Touri Holmes
: 5' 6"; Senior

Natalia Miranda Vega
: Freshman

Players Mentioned

#16 Ashanti Fernandes

#9 Touri Holmes

Natalia Miranda Vega

Players Mentioned

#16 Ashanti Fernandes

#9 Touri Holmes

Natalia Miranda Vega