JONESBORO, Ark. – Competing in its third tournament of the new year, the Lincoln Memorial University women's bowling team picked up a trio of key match wins among a loaded field on its way to an 11th-place finish at the 2020 Mid-Winter Invitational over the weekend.
 
The Lady Railsplitters (46-43) faced seven nationally-ranked teams across the three-day tournament hosted by Arkansas State at the Hijinx Entertainment Center in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and closed out the weekend with a 7-5 record and 12,233 pinfall total. Ranked 23rd in the February National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Top 25 poll, LMU earned a Baker match win over No. 11 Louisiana Tech (983-887) and defeated 16th-ranked Tulane (4-1) in best 4-of-7 Baker bracket play while topping No. 3 Nebraska 865-826 in traditional team format.
 
The Blue and Gray also took on No. 2 Sam Houston State, seventh-ranked Stephen F. Austin, No. 15 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and 19th-ranked Maryville University (Mo.) throughout the weekend.
 
Claiming a Baker match win against Alabama A&M (990-901), the Lady Railsplitters defeated both receiving-votes Jackson State (977-839) and Drury (917-764) in traditional team matches. LMU then ousted receiving-votes Jackson State (4-1) for the second time of the weekend Sunday in the best 4-of-7 Baker match bracket's second round.
 
Junior Tyra Sanchez led the way in the Lady Railsplitters' traditional team match victory over top-five ranked Nebraska with a 200-pin game and senior Marisol Dodson rolled a 193. Recording a total Baker pinfall count of 4,678 Friday, LMU tallied a traditional team match pinfall total of 4,577 Saturday before turning in a 2,978 pinfall total for Sunday's three Baker bracket matches. For the weekend, the Lady Railsplitters averaged a game score of 188.2.
 
Individually, Sanchez was the high scorer for LMU, finishing 27th among 122 total bowlers with a traditional game average of 198 and bowling games of 216, 212 and 200. Dodson ranked 35th among all bowlers with high games of 203, 193 and 190, averaging a 191.4 in the five traditional team matches.
 
Entering Sunday's bracket play as the No. 12 seed, the Lady Railsplitters recovered from a 4-1 opening round setback to No. 15 Wisconsin-Whitewater with back-to-back 4-1 wins. LMU upended 16th-ranked Tulane with strong games of 221, 232, 205 and 202 to capture the tournament's 11th place.
 
Fourth-ranked and second-seeded Vanderbilt knocked off No. 1 seed and top-ranked McKendree 4.5-1.5 for the tournament title Sunday, compiling a 10-2 record and a pinfall total of 13,891 in 67 games. Tournament host and fifth-ranked Arkansas State swept No. 7 Stephen F. Austin 4-0 for third place.
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters have nearly three weeks off from tournament action before returning to the lanes for competition Friday-Sunday, March 6-8 in Smyrna, Tennessee, for Vanderbilt's Columbia 300 Music City Classic.
 
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.