RICHTON PARK, Ill. (2/19/17) – The Arkansas State women's bowling team advanced to the championship match of the Crusader Classic, but dropped a close match to Nebraska to finish as the runner-up of the event Sunday at Lakewood Bowl in Richton Park, Ill.

A-State (61-27) won the first two games of the championship match 223-198 and 234-201 before the Cornhuskers tied it up with 196-193 and 243-178 wins. The Red Wolves won game five 236-222, but lost the final two games by scores of 286-195 and 212-208 to drop the match 4-3.

“We bowled really, really well today,” A-State head women's bowling coach Justin Kostick said. “We had a chance in game three against Nebraska to go up 3-0, but couldn't do it. In game seven I thought we bowled better than they did because we hit the pocket on all but two of our shots and they didn't hit the pocket, but the pins carried for them. It was a really good match that both teams bowled extremely well in.”

Arkansas State began the day with an impressive 1,147-957 win over Lincoln Memorial in the last qualifying match to jump from fourth to second with a total pinfall of 11,058. All five bowlers in the lineup picked up scores of 200 or more with Haley Richard (258), Brooke Wood (248), and Jordan Richard (236) leading the way.

The high scores lifted Jordan Richard and Wood to all-tournament status with Jordan Richard placing third and Wood just behind her in fourth. Jordan Richard knocked down 1,282 pins for a 213.67 per game average, while Wood had a total pinfall of 1,280 (213.33 per game).

“I'm very proud of the team today,” continued Kostick. “We didn't have Jadee (Scott-Jones) all weekend because she was sick, but Nicole (Mikaelian) and Julia (Huren) stepped up and bowled well. Jordan and Brooke made all-tournament team and we came out of the gates strong today with that 1,147 score against Lincoln Memorial. We bowled very well in the win over Central Missouri after that and the championship match could have gone either way. I thought we really came out strong today and I'm pleased with the effort. I hope we can carry this into the rest of the season.”

A-State advanced to the championship match with a win over Central Missouri. The Red Wolves won the first three games (246-159, 203-194, 238-178) before the Jennies cut into the deficit with a 189-183 win followed by a 253-214 triumph. However, A-State ended any thought of a comeback for UCM with a narrow 215-210 victory to win the match 4-2.

Arkansas State returns to action March 2-4 at the Big Red Invite hosted by Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb.