Addison, Illinois – After finishing the regular season ranked 19th in the USBC Power Rankings, the Bulldogs earned a post-season opportunity for the second straight year. They would compete in the USBC ITC Sectionals against 79 other teams who had very successful regular seasons across the United States.
Day One
McPherson’s sectional held 25 total teams in the Stardust Bowl over the weekend. Every team would compete in 64 baker games over Saturday and Sunday, with the top four teams from each sectional advancing to ITC Nationals in Green Bay, Wisconsin in April.
The Bulldogs started off well in the morning session with a team score of 885 through the first four games played; this score was good enough to hold the lead over all teams competing at the time. They would drop to second place with a score of 805 for games 5-8.
In their 9-12 games, the Bulldogs put up a 659 which would drop them further on the leaderboard to fifth place. They finished the morning with an improved 704 in games 13-16, putting them in seventh place and 102 pins behind the fourth.
After the lunch break, McPherson worked their way back to fifth place with an 805 in games 17-20, just 17 pins behind the top four.
Following games 21-32, McPherson finished Day One with a total pinfall of 6,040. This would put them in eighth place which was 138 pins back from fourth.
Day Two
In the opening 12 games of the Sunday morning session, McPherson fought their way back to sixth place and 113 pins behind the top four. After a tough final four games for the morning, the Bulldogs sat in seventh place heading into the final 16 baker games left.
Following lunch, McPherson fell to ninth place after games 49-56. With a strong finish in games 57-64, the Bulldogs finished in ninth place of the 25-team field with a total pinfall of 1,195.
In just year two of the program, the Bulldogs wrap up another successful year of bowling. McPherson finished the year with three top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes; three of those finishes were in Tier 1 tournaments throughout the year. The team ends their year 15th in the NAIA RPI out of the 68 teams across the country. Adding another feather, they would earn the ranking of 19th in the USBC Power Rankings; this is out of all 156 teams across every collegiate division of women’s bowling.
