HARAHAN, La. --- After posting the program's first victory on Friday, the Tusculum University women's bowling team knocked off its first ranked opponent in day two action at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Invitational. The three-day, 16-team event is being held at Colonial Lanes and hosted by Tulane University.
Tusculum went 1-4 in its five traditional game matches on Saturday as the Pioneers are currently 13th in the tournament with a two-day total of 8,704 pins.
The Pioneers rode the 252 game by freshman Abbygale Hunt as TU upset the tournament host and 14th-ranked Tulane Green Wave 928-824 the morning session opener.
Tusculum stumbled in Saturday's second match in a loss to No. 17 Louisiana Tech by a score of 986-850. Sophomore Tacey Ballen posted a 210 tally, while freshman Raycine Mortensen posted a 204 in the loss to Tech.
The Pioneers faced top-ranked Vanderbilt in their next contest as the Commodores were victorious 953-802 against their in-state foes. Mortensen had the top game for the Pioneers with her 181 against the 2019 NCAA national finalists.
Tusculum lost its final two matches of the afternoon, falling 949-810 to Jackson State and suffered a 1012-889 set-back at the hands of 13th-ranked Lincoln Memorial. Rookie Alexa Tieto led the Pioneers in the final two matches posting a 186 against Jackson State and closed out the day with a 191 against LMU.
Best 4-of-7 bracket play Baker matches will take place Sunday morning to determine a tournament champion and team placements. Tusculum will face Texas Southern University in Sunday's first round match. Seeding for Sunday's bracket play is determined by team's pinfall total from the first two days of play.
Hunt led Tusculum on Saturday with a 180.6 average in her five games which ranked her 35th in the tournament.