Bowling Finishes Second At Down South Tournament

Thursday, October 29, 2009 11:21 PM

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Prairie View A&M bowling team traveled east this past weekend to the state of North Carolina and represented the university well as they finished second in the Down South Tournament hosted by Winston-Salem State University.

Despite having the longest distance to travel, the Lady Panthers showed no signs of jet lag as they opened the first day of the tournament with a 5-0 mark that included wins over Alabama State, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, Fayetteville State and Elizabeth City State.  On the final day of competition, Prairie View kept up the momentum as they rounded out Baker play with a 4-1 mark for an overall record of 9-1 in the tourney.  The Lady Panthers' only loss came at the hands of eventual tournament champion Norfolk State as NSU edged Prairie View by a total pin count of 7,686 to 7,536 during the two-day affair.

Sophomore LeJewelia Lewis led the way for Prairie View as she finished with a 191.2 average.  The Waco, Texas native, who fell short of the tourney MVP honor by one pin, also made the All-Tournament Team.  Fellow teammate and freshman Cynthia Veney also earned All-Tournament honors with a 183.6 average.

"I'm proud of the team for battling tough and finishing strong again in this tournament," said head coach Glenn White.  "We've done well so far this season but we also know that we've yet to perform to the level that we're capable of." 

On Nov. 5 the Lady Panthers will travel north to Lincoln, Neb. to participate in the Big Red Invitational hosted by eight-time national bowling champion the University of Nebraska.  The invite will feature several top programs across the nation and it'll also be of importance to Prairie View as they'll be the only team from the Southwestern Athletic Conference to participate.

"We'll continue to work hard in practice and prepare for our next competition in two weeks at Nebraska because it'll be one of the highest profile tournaments our program has ever participated in." stated White.