Lady Statesmen Defend League Title

William Penn Women's Athletics

Dubuque–The William Penn women’s bowling team entered as the program to beat and it did not disappoint in taking the crown at the Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships Saturday and Sunday.

The Lady Statesmen led after the completion of the six regular games (5,575 pins) on Saturday, but were passed by Midland (Neb.) following the 16 Baker games on Sunday (2,952 pins for WPU).

The regular and Baker games gave Midland the Clarke Invitational title (8,605 pins), but since the team is not a member part of the MCC, William Penn’s runner-up finish earned it the #1 seed for the Match-Play Bracket Tournament with a tally of 8,527 pins.

The navy and gold, who won last year’s inaugural championship, rallied to knock off #8 seed Waldorf 2-1 (181-186, 193-165, 179-132) in the quarterfinals. The Lady Statesmen then swept #4 seed Ashford 2-0 (206-191, 172-149) in the semis, before completing their tremendous weekend with another 2-1 rally over #3 seed Viterbo (199-213, 164-163, 201-171) in the finals.

Breanne Underwood (Sr., Treynor, Treynor HS) guided William Penn in the six-game qualifier by placing second with a 201.3 average (1,208 pins). Aretha Williams of St. Ambrose was the top qualifier by averaging 204.8 pins (1,229 pins).

Samantha Powell (Jr., Herriman, Utah, Bingham HS), in fourth at 194.3, and Kirstin Newberry (Jr., Holland, Mich., West Ottawa HS), in seventh at 184.3, were also in the top ten.

Kelsey Johnson (Fr., Montgomery, Ill., Oswego East HS), with a 178.2 clip, and Jessica Ganem (Jr., Austin, Texas, Leander HS), with a 171.0 mark, rounded out the team’s scoring as each of the five bowlers started all six games.

Next: William Penn travels to Indianapolis, Ind. to compete in the Backhaul Direct Hoosier Classic next Saturday and Sunday.