Tylencia Selph and the Lady Bears will take their No. 20 ranking into the Kutztown Invitational this weekend.
KUTZTOWN, Pa. (Jan. 27, 2010)–The Morgan State Lady Bears will join many of the nation's top women's bowling teams this weekend in Berks County for the second annual Kutztown University Invitational. The event will run from Friday, Jan. 29 – Sunday, Jan. 31 at Heister Lanes in Reading, Pa.
There will be 28 teams competing, the largest such NCAA bowling event in the United States, including 15 of the top 20 teams from the latest National Tenpins Coaches Association (NTCA) poll. The three day event begins Friday at noon with five four-game baker matches.
Saturday's action begins at 9:30 a.m. with six traditional team matches. The event concludes Sunday at 8:30 a.m. with two four-game baker matches. At approximately 11 a.m., reseeding of the teams will take place, followed by best of seven baker matches. The tournament will conclude around 2 p.m. with a brief awards ceremony.
“We are really excited to host some of the nation's top bowling programs,” said Kutztown head coach Joe Ambrose. “This is a great opportunity for fans to watch some quality bowling teams compete at a high level. This will be a great event and we are looking forward to the challenge of competing against some of the best teams.”
The 28-team field includes the nation's top three teams according to latest NTCA top 25 poll: No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 2 Maryland-Eastern Shore and No. 3 Delaware State. Fifth-ranked Farleigh-Dickinson will also participate in the tournament. Overall, eight of the top 10 teams will compete in the KU Invitational.
Other ranked teams in the tournament include host Kutztown (ninth), Central Missouri (seventh), New Jersey City (eighth), St. Francis (10th), Adelphi (11th), Valparaiso (12th), Wisconsin-Whitewater (16th), Southern (17th), Sacred Heart (18th), Norfolk State (19th) and Morgan State (20th).
Also in the field of competition are three teams who received votes in the last poll: Florida A&M, Stephen F. Austin, Saint Peter's and Hampton. In addition the tournament features Cheyney, Penn State-Altoona, Coppin State, Medaille, Bethune-Cookman, Howard, Long Island, SUNY-IT and North Carolina Central.
Morgan State enters the event with a 41-40 overall record and is coming off a 7-3 mark and fourth-place finish at last weekend's Bowie State Lady Bulldog Classic. The Lady Bears have been led by Keisheena Waldon, who leads the team in total pins (6,784) and average (193.8) and Ashley Milbourne, who ranks second on the squad in pins (6,196) and average (177.0).
“This should be another wonderful event and we are appreciative of all the schools participating in this year's event,” Ambrose said. “We are looking to use this tournament as a springboard to a strong finish to our season.”
The Kutztown Sports Information Office contributed to portions of this release.
