ARLINGTON – The Prairie View A&M women's bowling team concludes another historical season, after reaching the NCAA Regionals first round falling both to No. 1 seeded McKendree and Sam Houston State 0-2 on Friday.

"This certainly has been a challenging season which has resulted in one of the most successful in school history," Head PVAMU Women's Bowling Coach Glenn White said.  "This is the first time the bowling team has won an NCAA Championship competition and possibly the first for any sport at the University.  The team this year surpassed expectations because of their inexperience and youthfulness. As we moved toward the end of the year all the hard work began to pay off.  The ladies really handled some tough situations throughout the Conference Championship and NCAA Regional competition. As a coach, you always want more but I'm very proud of how the team excelled this year representing the University and the Conference throughout the Championships"

The Lady Panthers' journey began with the play-in round defeating the CIAA Champions Fayetteville State on Thursday going the distance to take a 2-1 victory, advancing them to their first NCAA official Regional round.

PVAMU opened the second round with a battle with Mckendree, in the five-game traditional pin fall match, before facing the Bearcats in a Bakers matchup.  In team play, Prairie View A&M was led by SWAC Freshman of the Year Jayda Gordon, who bowled exceptionally well with a 210-pin fall.  Junior Ashlyn Okazaki was close behind with a 199 pin fall.  Prairie View A&M fought hard in the Baker match-up, garnishing two matches during the rounds 177-167, 183-156, 214-246, 256-186, 219-224), but the Lady Panthers were unsuccessful in pulling out the win falling 0-2 (1071-880, 1049-979). 

The loss sent PVAMU into the loser's bracket to face Sam Houston State later that afternoon for game two of the day.  The Lady Panthers gave their all but fell 0-2 against the Bearkats (1008-880, 977-916) closing out the NCAA season.

The Lady Panthers will graduate two players in SWAC MVP Stephanie Vasquez and Ivelisse Reyes, while returning four to next year's defending SWAC Championship team.

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