The Sacred Heart University women's bowling team captured its second consecutive Northeast Conference regular season championship following a 5-3 effort at NEC Meet #2 this weekend. The Pioneers finished 15-3, with a 199.8 pin fall average to capture the crown and the top seed at the March 25-26 NEC Tournament.
Dominique Newton led the team averaging 20.90 per frame for eight rounds. Newton also led the Pioneers with filled frames at 91 percent. The team made 90 percent of single pin spares with four; Casey Smith, Mikaela Marbot, Kristin Zimmerman and Sarah Morris, shooting 100 percent for the weekend .
SHU finished 15-3 in the league standings, with FDU in second place at 11-7 and a 191.2 pin fall total. SFU and St. Francis Brooklyn tied at 10-8, followed by LIU (8-10), Caldwell (5-13) and Duquesne (4-14). The top-six teams earn NEC Tournament berths with the top two seeds earning byes into the championship bracket.
The Pioneers are back in action at the Music City Classic, March 17-19, in Smyrna, Tenn.
Day 1 - Saturday, February 25
Match 1 (Baker)
Match 2 (Baker)
- Duquesne 896 - #10 SHU 861
- Tyrrell filled all 10 frames for 213 score in the match
Match 3 (Baker)
- As part of NEC play, this round was a SHU bye, with the team bowling the second best score of the season, 1104
- Four Pioneers came off the bench to shoot the best scores of the day and weekend
- Courtney McGinn tossed nine strikes out of 10 frames, for 267
- Newton threw a 247, with seven out of 10 strikes in the round
Match 4 (Team Game)
- #17 LIU Brooklyn 1,012 - #10 SHU 985
- Newton led the team with a 237
Match 5 (Team Game)
- #10 SHU 911 – #15 #25 SFU 864
- SHU battled to earn the win, improving to 3-0 against the Red Flash
Day 2 – Sunday, February 26
Match 6 (Team Game)
- #6 FDU 1,019 - #10 SHU 1,003
- A tightly contested match from start to finish that gave FDU its first win of the year over SHU
- Rhodes led with a 238 game with 10 filled frames and nine strikes
Match 7 (Team Game)
- #10 SHU 947 – Caldwell 896
- The victory gave SHU a 3-0 record over Caldwell on the year
- Newton's 197 included 10 clean frames
Match 8 (Team Game)
- #10 SHU 1,050 – #25 SFBK 902
- Tyrrell led with a 220 as SHU improved to 3-0 versus the Terriers
- Lauren Hoffman (214), Nardiello (213) and Rhodes (212) all surpassed 200 in the match
Match 9 (Team Game)
- #10 SHU 950 – Duquesne 852
- The victory gave SHU its 15th NEC win of the year and secured the regular season crown
- Newton paced the effort with a 224
Match 10 (Team Game)
- SHU bowled an 928 in the final round, a team bye
- Casey Smith came off the bench to end the day with a 216 filling all frames with strikes or spares
