BOWIE STATE, ELIZABETH CITY STATE STAY UNBEATEN IN WINNER'S BRACKET OF CIAA BOWLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

DURHAM, N.C. – Bowie State University and Elizabeth City State University both advanced to the winner’s bracket of the championship round at the CIAA Women’s Bowling Championships held at AMF Durham Lanes on Sunday, March 24, 2013.

Both teams remained unbeaten after winning two matches in double-elimination bracket play. Bowie State defeated Winston-Salem State 4-0 and Saint Augustine’s 4-3 while Elizabeth City State beat Virginia State 4-3 and Fayetteville State 4-1.

Both teams face each other in the winner’s bracket on Monday in the third round. The winner will advance to the finals and will need only one victory to claim the league title. The loser will head to the elimination bracket.

Bowie State and Elizabeth City State are two of six teams left in the tournament. The others are Fayetteville State, Saint Augustine’s, Winston-Salem State and Virginia State. Both Shaw and Virginia Union were eliminated after each team lost two matches in bracket play.

The other third round matches on Monday are Fayetteville State versus Virginia State and Saint Augustine’s versus Winston-Salem State in the elimination bracket. The third round gets underway at 9:35 a.m. on the final day of the tournament at AMF Durham Lanes. The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be held on that day to determine the conference champion. Watch the final day of the tournament on www.livestream.com/ciaa.

Saint Augustine’s entered bracket play on Sunday afternoon as the top seed after recording the highest pin count total from Saturday’s team matches and Sunday’s Baker matches. It was the highest seeding ever for the Lady Falcons in the history of their women’s bowling program.

Saint Augustine’s defeated eighth-seeded Shaw 4-2 in the first round of bracket play before losing to Bowie State in a seven-game thriller. Bowie State won the first three games but Saint Augustine’s rallied to tie the match at 3-3. Bowie State prevailed in the seventh and deciding game 182-177 to stay in the winner’s bracket.

Fayetteville State, the two-time defending CIAA champion, entered bracket play as the No. 2 seed. It beat No. 7 seed Virginia Union 4-1 before losing to Elizabeth City State in the second round. Fourth-seed Virginia State was knocked into the elimination bracket with a 4-3 loss to ECSU but rebounded to defeat Virginia Union 4-1 to stay alive. Winston-Salem State also survived after topping Shaw 4-1 in the elimination bracket after losing 4-0 to Bowie State in the first round.

Earlier in the day, Saint Augustine’s captured the No. 1 seed by rolling a 781 score against Winston-Salem State University in the last Baker's match in the seeding round to overtake Fayetteville State by one pin (7,691-7,690). Fayetteville State entered the day in the lead for the top seed after Saturday’s team matches, which they maintained until the fifth and final Baker’s match on Sunday. Fayetteville State bowled a 673 score in its final Baker’s match which opened the door for Saint Augustine’s.

Saint Augustine’s narrowly edged Fayetteville State for seeding in the tournament, after the Lady Broncos won the Southern Division title over the Lady Falcons by one match during the regular season.
Northern Division champion Bowie State gained the No. 3 seed with 7,568 total pins and Virginia State University earned the fourth seed with 7,432 pins. Elizabeth City State University captured the fifth seed with 7,385 pins and Winston-Salem State claimed the sixth seed with 7,193 pins. Virginia Union finished as the No. 7 seed with 6,825 pins followed by Shaw as the eighth seed with 6,418 pins.

The Lady Vikings gave a preview of what was to come in bracket play by bowling their best game in Sunday’s Baker’s matches to determine seeding. They almost recorded a perfect game, rolling a strike in all but one frame to score 227 points in game four of a 763-666 win over Shaw.