Vanderbilt women beat Arkansas St., win NCAA bowling title

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Second-seeded Vanderbilt beat Arkansas State 4-3 on Saturday at the and won the NCAA women's bowling championship, the third national title in program history.

No. 3 seed Arkansas State, which beat the Commodores in an opening-round match (Mega Match Format) Friday, jumped to a 2-0 lead and had a 3-1 advantage before Vanderbilt rallied and won three straight games in the best-of-seven Baker match play championship.

The Commodores eliminated top-seeded McKendree — the defending champion, which lost its opening-round match against No. 4 seed Nebraska — and then beat the Cornhuskers, who lost their second-round game against Arkansas State, in a loser-out game earlier Saturday to earn a shot at redemption with the Red Wolves.

Jennifer Loredo rolled six strikes on six tries in the third game to help Vanderbilt win 215-198 and eliminate any possibility of being swept and, after the Commodores again staved off elimination with a narrow victory in Game 5, Loredo added four more strikes to help force Game 7, where Vanderbilt cruised.

The Red Wolves, still in search of the first NCAA championship in school history (any sport), have appeared in 15 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including the last 13 under head coach Justin Kostick.