CROYDON, Pa. – Competing against a highly talented 26-team tournament field comprised of 17 top-25 teams, including three of the nation's top five, seven of the top 10 and 10 of the top 15, the Lincoln Memorial University women's bowling team finished 18th at the 2020 Northeast Invitational in Croydon, Pennsylvania. In their first tournament of the new year, the Lady Railsplitters (31-34) posted a 5-8 record and claimed a pinfall total of 12,203 with a victory over nationally-ranked Wilmington University.
 
LMU defeated Medaille College in bracket play Sunday morning before closing out the tournament with a pair of setbacks to St. Francis College and Kutztown University.
 
Earning the No. 17 seed for Sunday's three-round bracket of best 4-of-7 Baker matches, the 20th-ranked Lady Railsplitters bested Medaille College in a seven-game affair in the opening round. After LMU took game one of the match, 204-190, Medaille responded by winning games two (188-175) and three (176-160). The Lady Railsplitters then evened things up with a 174-159 game four win but found themselves down 3-2 after Medaille rolled a 219 in the fifth and LMU scored just a 149. Edging their opponent by six pins (186-180) in the sixth, the Lady Railsplitters took the decisive seventh game in convincing fashion, 212-158.
 
After seven games bowled between LMU and St. Francis College in the morning's second round inside the Bristol Pike Lanes, the two teams were deadlocked at 3.5-3.5. Both the Lady Railsplitters and St. Francis College rolled a 182 in the second game and two other games were decided by a single pin. The Terriers evened up the match at 1.5-1.5 with a 170-69 game three win before LMU built a 3.5-1.5 lead with 224-157 game four and 174-167 game five victories. The Lady Railsplitters had an opportunity to end the match in game six but St. Francis College was able to escape with a 171-170 game six win and send the match into a five-frame roll-off with a 168-140 game seven win. Despite its best efforts, LMU came two pins shy in the roll-off as the Terriers took the match 4.5-3.5 with a 96-94 advantage in the extra five frames.
 
Taking on Kutztown University in the 17th-place match, the Lady Railsplitters were only able to take one game as they fell 4-1. Trailing 3-0 in the third and final round, LMU won game four by a 202-182 count but saw Kutztown roll a 237 in the fifth to earn the match win in five games.
 
Fifth-ranked and 2018 NCAA champion Vanderbilt took home the Northeast Invitational title by knocking off top-ranked and No. 1 seed McKendree 4-0 in the championship. Second-ranked and No. 3 seed Sam Houston State ousted 19th-ranked and tournament host Sacred Heart University 4-2 for third place.
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters return to the lanes for competition next weekend when they travel to Chesterfield, Missouri, for Maryville University (Mo.)'s Columbia 300 Saints Invite held Friday-Sunday, Jan. 24-26.
 
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.