HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, N.J.— The Sacred Heart women's bowling team captured the program's sixth Northeast Conference Championship, in back-to-back fashion. The Pioneers entered the NEC Championships as the fourth seed with a play-in match and took down the top seed, Fairleigh Dickinson, 2-1 on Sunday in the final to win the 2023 NEC Bowling Championship and earn the team's ninth NCAA Tournament bid.

Sacred Heart had to win four matches throughout the weekend to hoist the trophy for the second straight season. The Pioneers opened the weekend with a 2-0 win over #5 Saint Francis in a play-in game on Friday morning. With a spot in the first round, the Pioneers then took on #1 FDU and came out on top 2-1 to advance to the second round, in the winners' bracket. On Saturday, SHU continued their success as they swept Duquesene, 2-0, to claim a spot in the championship final against FDU on Sunday. 

Fairleigh Dickinson opened the championship on Sunday with an early 1-0 lead in traditional play with a 1017-905 victory over the Pioneers.

Sacred Heart would not go down without a fight. After falling to FDU in the opening traditional match, the Pioneers showed up for the quint baker competition and dominated with an 1114-950 total pinfall victory. 

SHU jumped dominated the quint baker match, as they won the first two games in an exciting fashion. The Pioneers bowled seven consecutive strikes in game two to really take control and set themselves up for success through the rest of the quint baker games. 

The Knights won the third game of the baker match but, SHU's total pinfall so far kept them ahead. The Pioneers opened game five of the baker match with four straight strikes and closed the game with three more to take a demanding win and tie the championship match 1-1.

With the match tied 1-1, the teams would go to a best-of-seven baker match. The Pioneers, still hot off their quint baker match, took a win in the first game for an early lead. FDU was able to claim the next following game, and the teams traded wins until it was tied, 2-2. From there, the Pioneers took off. Sacred Heart owned the competition and won the next two games and Rachel Glowniak was able to knock down a strike as the anchor in the final frame, to win the best-of-seven baker match and take the 2-1 final for the 2023 championship.

The Pioneers have claimed its third NEC Championship in the last four years, and sixth overall. Sacred Heart has won in 2010, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2022, and now 2023.

SHU will make its ninth NCAA tournament appearance and will find out where they are off to next, on Wednesday, March 29th. The selection show will be streamed on NCAA.com at 4:00 PM.