LINCOLN, Neb. – The Lincoln Memorial University women's bowling team notched its third win over a top-10 team of 2017 with a 1005-963 win over No. 10 Central Missouri on Friday at the Big Red Invitational at Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Earlier this year, LMU defeated the seventh-ranked team in February in Houston and No. 9 Monmouth in January in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
 
"I am very proud of our evolution this season," said Director of Bowling Joseph Slowinski. "Our top performance level has improved so much and it is exciting to watch."
 
Freshman Mary-Kate Kersting (Sayreville, N.J.) led the Lady Railsplitters by averaging 198.5 for five games, finishing 16th individually.
 
Kersting had a 19.86 frame average in traditional format and a 19.18 frame average in Baker, striking at a 50 percent rate in traditional games and 42.9 percent in Baker. Her fill the frame percentages were 86 percent in traditional games. In traditional games, Kersting had a frame average of 19.86 and struck at a 50 percent rate with a fill the frame percentage of 86 percent and a 91 percent conversion rate on single-pin makeables. Kersting's frame average in Baker was 19.18, striking at a rate of 42.9 percent, with a Baker Double percentage of 47.6 (10 of 21).and a 76.8 percent fill the frame percentage.
 
"Since her fine performance at the Ladyjack in Houston, she has been a huge contributor," Slowinski said of Kersting. "Her enthusiasm is addictive to our entire team and lifts our energy level and overall team performance."
 
In Baker games in Houston three weeks ago, Kersting had an 85.5 fill the frame percentage, a 48.7 percent strike rate as well as an outstanding Baker double percentage of 54.2 (13 of 24).
 
"We still have a lot of work to do this season to be ready for the East Coast Conference championship in Keene, New Hampshire at the end of the month," added Slowinski. "We need to remain hungry to reach our best and sustain focus at a high level frame-to-frame and game-to-game to reach a consistency of our best level more often."
 
LMU went 2-8 for the weekend, winning over Lincoln 907-843 in addition to Central Missouri on Friday.
 
LMU opened the tournament on Thursday evening with losses to No. 1 McKendree 1056-923, No. 2 Nebraska 1095-822 before responding and performing well in a loss to Maryville 985-950.
 
On Friday, LMU went 2-3 with wins over Central Missouri and Lincoln University and losses to No. 13 Wisconsin Whitewater 1035-932, Arkansas State 1035-932 and No. 25 Valparaiso 991-816.
 
LMU ended the weekend on Saturday with loses to McKendree 0-4 (210-232, 165-194, 224-226, 182-256) and Maryville 0-4 (181-193, 205-252, 159-164, 179-185).
 
"I was very proud of our effort on Saturday morning as we performed well and competed strongly against the No. 1 team in the nation with our best performance against them this season," stated Slowinski. 
 
"I have stressed the fact that this is a long-term project for this group of young women. We have competed against the top 25 teams in the country frequently all season long in an effort to prepare for a successful future."
 
LMU returns to action March 17-19 in Smyrna, Tenn. at the Music City Classic, hosted by Vanderbilt, for their final regular season tournament.  The Music City Classic, traditionally the largest event in the NCAA season, will feature more than 34 teams including most of the top 25 teams.
 
Immediately upon returning from the Music City Classic, the Railsplitters hit the road for Keene, N.H. and the East Coast Conference Championship, hosted by Franklin Pierce March 24-26 at Yankee Lanes.