Reading, Pa. – The Lincoln Memorial University women's bowling team continued a strong 2017 with a 7-8 weekend at the competitive 26-team field at the Kutztown Invitational, which featured 17 of the nation's top-25 ranked teams. In 2017, the Lady Railsplitters are now 13-14 with four wins over nationally-ranked opponents.

LMU went 3-3 on Friday in the five-game total pin Baker game match format, upsetting No. 14 Wisconsin-Whitewater with a 937-914 victory in game four. LMU also defeated Medaille 806-744 and Bethune-Cookman 904-876, while suffering loses to No. 9 Monmouth 949-887, No. 8 Central Missouri 894-853 and No. 4 McKendree 990-840.

The Lady Railsplitters went 3-3 on Saturday in the traditional team format, including a decisive 973-880 win over No. 20 Norfolk State as well as victories over Chestnut Hill 947-910 and Pitt-Bradford 933-804. LMU nearly upset No. 16 Tulane, falling by the slimmest of margins, 915-912, in a match that went to the final shot for both teams' anchor bowlers. The Lady Railsplitters lost to No. 24 North Carolina A&T 896-795 to open the day and ended the day with a loss to No. 6 Vanderbilt 990-894. Last week, the Lady Railsplitters nearly upset Vanderbilt in a 928-904 thriller in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Freshman Heather Trapp (Chester, Va.) led the Lady Railsplitters with a breakout performance, averaging 198 for five games (134, 213, 194, 241 and 208) on Saturday during the traditional team format, striking at just under a 50 percent rate (72 strikes in 148 attempts, 48.64%). Trapp's per-frame average in traditional format was 19.03 and Baker was 19.13. In Baker, she had a strike rate of 50.9 percent (43 strikes on 91 first shots) and contributed with 13 doubles on 26 attempts while converting 17 of 19 single-pins.

"I am so happy for Heather to break out like this in a major tournament and bowl like we all knew she was capable of doing," said Director of Bowling and Head Coach Joe Slowinski. "She has worked so hard with physical game changes and persevered through a nagging injury."

Outstanding performances from two other freshmen on Saturday included Sabrina Fautheree (Converse, Texas) averaging 201 for five games (266, 156, 215, 170 and 199) and McCayla Donna (Belleview, Fla.) recovering to average 191 for six games after a slow start (160, 159, 225, 210, 212 and 181). 

"Sabrina and McCayla work diligently on a daily basis and we are beginning to see high-quality bowling on a more consistent basis in competition," added Slowinski.

Sunday ended the weekend on a disappointing note for the Lady Railsplitters, as Kutztown defeated LMU twice, 4-1 and 4-3, in best-of-seven Baker matches. LMU defeated Morgan State 4-1 to end the weekend with a 7-8 record.

"I am so proud of these young women who continue to amaze me as we progress through the season," stated Slowinski. "We are seeing glimpses of excellence more and more each week by all of our players."

LMU will be in action next February 10-12 at the Ladyjack Invitational, which is being hosted by Stephen F. Austin in Houston.