HARAHAN, La. – The 2019-20 Lincoln Memorial University women's bowling season officially began Friday morning at the Colonial Lanes in Harahan, Louisiana, near New Orleans and the Lady Railsplitters completed day one of competition in seventh place among a 16-team field at the seventh annual Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Invitational. Following five, five-game Baker matches, LMU holds a pinfall total of 4,676 and is among contending teams at the three-day, season-opening tournament featuring three of the top five teams in the nation, five of the top 10 and nine of the top 20.
 
Facing a trio of teams top-17 teams according to the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Preseason Top 25, the Lady Railsplitters went 2-3 on the day with victories over Alabama State and Grambling State. Tournament host and 14th-ranked Tulane, No. 17 Louisiana Tech and top-ranked Vanderbilt proved to be tough outs but LMU ended Friday with the highest Baker match score of the day by any team. The Lady Railsplitters collected an impressive 1,032 pins in their rout of the Lady Tigers (1,032-683).
 
Fifth-ranked Sam Houston State leads after Baker match play with 4,901 total pins, while 2019 NCAA finalist Vanderbilt is in second place with 4,806 pins. Eighth-ranked North Carolina A&T (4,800) is third followed by No. 17 Louisiana Tech (4,794) fourth, second-ranked Stephen F. Austin (4,776) fifth and No. 14 Tulane (4,714) sixth.
 
With a narrow, two-pin setback against the 17th-ranked Lady Techsters (914-912) and a close, 17-pin loss to the 14th-ranked Green Wave (953-936), LMU could have easily gone 4-1 Friday. Junior East Coast Conference Preseason Bowler of the Year Christine Hansen went 34-of-67 on the day for a 50.7 percent strike rate and was 13-of-23 on Baker double strikes (56.5%) as senior Marisol Dodson added 22 strikes and went 11-for-11 in single-pins.
 
Beginning the day with a 909-902 triumph over Alabama State, senior Mary-Kate Kersting led the Lady Railsplitters with a 70 strike percentage.
 
Against Tulane, Dodson lit up the match with a stellar 81.8 strike percentage (9-of-11) and an 85.7 Baker double-strike percentage (6-of-7). Making her LMU debut, freshman Sofia Colon recorded a 63.6 strike percentage (7-of-11) in the match.
 
Following their two-pin deficit against Louisiana Tech, the Lady Railsplitters got strong performances from both Hansen and Dodson in a 973-887 setback against the top-ranked Commodores. Hansen registered a 61.5 strike rate percentage (8-of-13) and Dodson filled 100 percent of frames.
 
In LMU's 349-pin win over Grambling State, junior Justine Brookover and Dodson both filled 100 percent of frames with Hansen owning a 72 strike rate percentage (8-of-11).
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters will take on three top-10 teams Saturday in traditional team match play beginning at 9:30 a.m. EST. Eighth-ranked North Carolina A&T, No. 7 Maryland-Eastern Shore and fifth-ranked Sam Houston State all await LMU Saturday in Louisiana, in addition to Southern University and fellow ECC member Tusculum. Saturday's match with Tusculum will be the first ever between the two squads as the Pioneers are competing in their inaugural tournament. Best 4-of-7 bracket play Baker matches will take place Sunday beginning at 9:30 a.m. EST to determine a tournament champion and team placements. Seeding for Sunday's bracket play will be determined by team's pinfall total from the first two days of play.
 
How to Follow
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Lady Railsplitter bowling throughout the 2019-20 season.