2009 Tournament Bracket
2009 Tournament Website
CANTON, MI…For the second year in a row
New Jersey City University was unable to hold on to a 3-1 lead in the NCAA Tournament, as the #2 seeded Gothic Knights fell to seventh-seeded Delaware State University, 4-games-to-3, but NJCU bounced back in style in an elimination match, ousting defending NCAA champion University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 4-1-1, in the second round, on Friday at the 2009 NCAA
National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championships at Super Bowl Lanes.
NJCU (88-37) will meet top-seeded University of Nebraska-Lincoln (68-20) in another elimination match on April 10 at 3:30 p.m. The winner advances to face Delaware State in the NCAA National Semifinals. The Knights have never defeated the Huskers in four previous meetings in the NCAAs and it will be the first time in the history of the NCAA Championship that the top two seeds will face in a third round elimination match.
NJCU, ranked #7 nationally among Division I, II and III institutions by the National Tenpins Coaches Association, led the Hornets, 3-1, before a near perfect game sparked #4 ranked Delaware State to three straight wins, prevailing in the series, 4-3 with scores of 213-214, 199-190, 202-240, 150-163, 277-195, 228-203 and 204-184. DSU is 9-3 against NJCU this year, winning the last seven meetings. In best four-of-seven series, the Hornets are 4-1 against the Knights in 2008-09.
The Knights responded by surging out to a 3-0 lead on the #5 ranked Hawks and after a tie in game five, NJCU advanced with a 4-1-1 victory, 208-200, 205-167, 169-163, 185-210, 202-202, 245-203. UMES and eighth-seeded Arkansas State University—the 2008 national finalists—were both eliminated after the second round.
It was the third time NJCU has faced UMES in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament and the Knights have won all three meetings (2004, 2006, and 2009)
“The New Jersey Fab Five' used a Baker lineup of sophomore
AMANDA SMALL (Port Reading, NJ/Woodbridge) leading off, followed by freshman
JENNIFER DAUNNO (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) and junior CANDICE D'ANGELO
(Coram, NY/Longwood (NY). Junior
JENN MARMO (North Babylon, NY/North Babylon) bowled in the setup role and sophomore
NICOLE DREJERWSKI (Levittown, PA/Conwell-Egan Catholic) anchored.
In the NJCU/UMES match, the Knights took the opener, 208-200 then cruised to a 205-167 in the second game—becoming the first team in nine games on lane 20 of the bowling center to win. NJCU squeaked out a 169-163 win in game three. Leading by two pins in the eighth, the Hawks had a costly two-pin open in the ninth frame that allowed the Knights to grab a 3-0 lead.
With UMES leading in the fourth frame, the Hawks had an open in the seventh frame, but NJCU left opens in the seventh and ninth frames. UMES won 210-185.
In game five, D'Angelo had a crucial spare in the eighth frame, before UMES marked in the 10th to force a tie, 202-202. Finally in game six, NJCU opened with three consecutive strikes and added three more strikes in the fifth, sixth and seventh frames. Strikes in the ninth and 10th frame sealed it as NJCU clinched a 245-203 win.
In the Delaware State match, NJCU won game one, 214-213; the Hornets needed two strikes in the 10th frame to win, and converted the first before leaving a pin on ball two. In the second game, NJCU trailed before striking in the seventh, eighth and ninth frames. After DSU split in the 10th, the Knights needed a strike to win, but dropped a 199-190 decision.
In the third game, Drejerwski, Small and Daunno struck in the fifth thru seventh frames and D'Angelo, Marmo and Drejerwski also knocked down 10 pins for sixth consecutive strikes and NJCU won 240-202.
In a back-and-forth game four, NJCU and DSU each struck in the ninth as the Knights led 124-122. Drejerwski had a spare plus nine in the 10th frame while the Hornets had a split as NJCU won 163-150 for a 3-1 series lead.
In the 2008 national semifinals, NJCU led Arkansas State, 3-1, before the Red Wolves rallied to win the seven game series and Delaware State repeated the feat, rallying to claim games five, six and seven.
In game five, Delaware State had a chance for the third perfect Baker game in NCAA Tournament history after rolling nine consecutive strikes, before settling for a 277-195 win. That sparked DSU's comeback.
In game six, DSU had strikes in frames two thru four and led 99-77. The Hornets continued to lead and both teams spared in the seventh and struck in the eighth, as DSU maintained a 179-163 edge. It was 199-183 after the ninth frame and the Hornets forced a seventh game with back-to-back strikes in the 10th frame.
In game seven, DSU opened with three strikes and had another in the fifth, and led 137-107 after the Knights had an open in the sixth frame. Both schools struck in the eighth frame. NJCU struck in the ninth after the Hornets had an open in the frame. The gap was narrowed to 185-175 and DSU struck in the 10th, but had an open on the third ball. Needing a strike to give the Knights a chance to win, Drejerwski was close, but could only convert nine pins.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
