HARAHAN, La. (3/20/25) – After falling to Jacksonville State in the winner's bracket Friday morning, the Arkansas State women's bowling team rallied past Stephen F. Austin to advance to day four of the Conference USA Championship at Colonial Lanes.

The Red Wolves dropped the traditional point to Jacksonville State 1,111-982. Saralyne Nassberg led A-State for the second consecutive traditional match downing 222 pins. Maggie Thoma (212) and Kaylee Back (206) topped 200 pins while Katie Ruszczak had 172 and Karli VanDuinen totaled 170.

Jax State went on to clinch the match taking the Baker 5-game portion by just 30 pins, 1,041-1,011. A-State fell behind by 45 pins, 210-165, in game one and the deficit swelled to 65 pins after a 211-191 margin in game two. The Red Wolves attempted to rally by taking game totaling more pins over games three (221-199) and four (217-186), but Jax State took the fifth and final game 235-217 to set the final margin.

Dropping to the contender's bracket, A-State met Stephen F. Austin in the afternoon session. Stephen F. Austin topped the Red Wolves by one pin, 991-990, to take the traditional point. Malaya Chavez paced A-State with a 222 while Nassberg (204) and VanDuinen (202) also topped 200. Thoma added 193 pins and Back had 169.

A-State responded and took the Baker 5-game portion of the mega-match 1,032-917. After SFA took the first game 204-192, the Red Wolves took the next three games, 213-173, 227-161 and 200-175 to build an 832-713 advantage. SFA took the last game 204-200, but the Red Wolves grabbed the point to force a decisive Baker best-of-seven series.

The Red Wolves grabbed a 2-0 advantage in the series by way of 223-184 and 226-118. SFA edged A-State 202-200 in game three, but the Red Wolves took a 3-1 lead with a 236-190 margin in game four. Game five went to SFA by one pin, 191-190, but A-State closed out the win with a 231-166 margin in game six.

A-State meets Wichita State in an elimination match Saturday at 9 a.m. on ESPN+