The Saint Vincent women's bowling team finished with an overall record of 8-5 in the three-day Wildcat Invitational hosted by Wilmington University, in New Castle, Delaware.  SVC is now 20-5 on the season.

Freshman Jessica Guesman was named to the All-Tournament Team.  She finished as the tournament runner-up, just one pin behind the leader for the five traditional games, 989-988.

On the tournament's final day, SVC battled in three Best-of-7 Baker matches.  Up first was New Jersey City University, and the Bearcats set the tone early with a 162-124 win.  The team continued to roll from there, with games of 177 and 192, opening a 3-0 lead.  The Bearcats dropped the fourth game 160-157, but bounced right back with a 171-147 win to seal the series win.

Next was a rematch against Medaille College, but the Bearcats were unable to win a game, falling 4-0.  SVC posted its best score of the day in game four, 203, but lost to Medaille's 221.

The final match of the day was against Bloomfield College, and SVC won the first game by a 188-168 score.  Bloomfield then captured the next two games, 173-156 and 153-137 to take a 2-1 lead.  SVC battled back in game four (157-137) to tie the match.  In game five, SVC won by 20 pins, 155-135, then closed the day with a 180-167 victory to clinch the match.

Freshman Meghan Christman led the team on the day with a Baker average of 19.16 (equivalent of a 191.6 game average).  Abby Kyle had a solid day as well, finishing at 17.78.

DAY TWO RECAP
SVC finished with a 4-1 record on the afternoon, and had the highest single game score of any team in the tournament with a 985 in the final game of the day.  

The Bearcats started the day with a 798-589 win over Penn State-Altoona, with a trio of freshmen leading the way.  Jessica Guesman had the top score with a 186, while Meghan Christman finished at 178, and Lexi Cobbin shot a 172.

Game two featured a matchup against nationally ranked Division-II school Kutztown University, and the Bearcats pulled off the upset with a narrow 9-pin victory, 821-812.  Sophomore anchor Dani Koehler had to make a spare in the 10th frame to seal the win.  Cobbin had the team's high score in the game, a 198, while Christman recorded a 179.

The third match of the day pitted SVC against the #1-seeded team in the tournament, Division-II Molloy College. SVC started strong, but had three open frames in the 8th, ultimately falling by a score of 876-819.  Guesman shot a 221 to lead the team.

In game four, the Bearcats struggled early against Bloomfield College, trailing until late in the 8th frame.  Guesman, Koehler and Christman all threw doubles, as SVC pulled away with a strong finish to an 890-808 victory.  Guesman again had the team high (218) while Morgan Barlock had a solid game, recording a mark in every frame and finishing with a 190.

The team saved its best game of the season for game 5, as SVC defeated Long Island-Post by a score of 985-819.  The five-person total of 985 (197 average) was the highest in the history of the second-year program, and was also the highest score recorded by any of the 12 competing teams this weekend.  Christman finished the game with 7 consecutive strikes for a 236.  Guesman had 6 strikes in the first 7 frames en route to a 221 game, while Koehler finished with a 212. Rachael Heater finished with a 181.

For the day, Guesman finished with a score of 988 over 5 games, a 197.6 average. Christman ended the day with an average of 180.8.

DAY ONE RECAP
SVC earned victories over New Jersey City University and Medaille College in Baker competition.

SVC opened the first of five, 5-game Baker sets against Chestnut Hill College, and the team struggled from the outset, dropping the first game of the day by a 223-144 margin.  SVC came back with a 192 the second game, but it was the highest the team would reach, eventually falling by a score of 913-745.

The Bearcats threw much better in the second match, against Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference foe New Jersey City University.  Saint Vincent won the opening game 176-119 and never looked back, shooting ann 870 total for the five game series, while NJCU finished at 734.

Up next was a matchup against Caldwell University, and the match was close through the first two games, as Caldwell held a 353-330 advantage going to the third game.  Splits plagued SVC during the next three games, as they had throughout much of the day, and SVC lost the match by a final score of 879-786.  The Bearcats recorded games of 179 and 178 during the series.

The fourth match of the day sent the Bearcats up against a tough squad from Adelphi University.  SVC won the first game, 177-166, but splits again worked against SVC, as the team eventually recorded 10 splits during the five game series, losing 917-776.

SVC had to regroup prior to the last match against AMCC rival Medaille.  The Bearcats got back-to-back strikes early from Meghan Christman and Dani Koehler in game one, and Koehler later threw 2 strikes in the 10th frame as SVC won, 188-153.  Saint Vincent used consecutive strikes in game two from Jessica Guesman, Christman, and two from Koehler to win the second game, 190-164.  SVC dropped games three and five in the series, but Koehler accounted for 12 strikes in 10 frames during the series, as SVC won 847-799.

For the day, Koehler led the way with a Baker average of 20.81, a game equivalent of 208.1.  Koehler tallied 41 strikes on the day.  Lexi Cobbin was second for SVC with a score of 16.44.  As a team, SVC tallied 36 splits in 25 games, which helped keep scores down.

The Bearcats will return to action on December 15, in the Florida Shore Collegiate Classic in Merritt Island, Florida.