Harahan, LA – Contributed – The third-ranked Arkansas State women’s bowling team defeated top-ranked Jacksonville State in a mega-match Sunday morning to force a decisive best-of-seven series, but the Red Wolves fell 4.0-3.5 to finish runner-up at the 2026 Conference USA Bowling Championship.
Poised for their 18th-straight appearance in the NCAA Bowling Championship, the Red Wolves will enter NCAA Regionals with a 77-34 overall record, including a mark of 49-32 against top 25 foes, 19-13 against top five and 31-18 against top 10 opponents.
A-State fell behind early in the opener with Jax State taking the traditional game by a tally of 1,080-990. Maggie Thoma led the Red Wolves with a game of 235 while Malaya Chavez rolled 200. Kaylee Back (186), Katie Ruszczak (185) and Amanda Lang (184) also rolled in the team game.
The Red Wolves got out to a 31-pin lead, 243-212, in the Baker 5-game total pinfall and held off the Gamecocks to force a best-of-seven. The lead grew to 41 with a margin of 229-219 in game five, but Jax State trimmed the lead to nine taking game three 235-203. A-State answered with a 244-222 tally in game four to lead by 31 pins and won by 11 (1,082-1,071) with the Gamecocks taking the finale 183-163.
Jax State took the opener in the best-of-seven series, 245-185, but the Red Wolves did not flinch. A-State took the next three games – 217-190, 202-175 and 211-186 – to lead 3-1 heading to game five. Jax State forced game six with a 257-165 margin, but the Red Wolves took game six 233-192.
Having forced the decisive Baker best-of-seven to determine the champion, A-State grabbed an early 2.5-0.5 lead. The Red Wolves took game one 201-194 before a tie of 217 in game two gave each side a half point. A-State took game three 193-185, but Jax State grabbed the next three – 179-172, 228-191 and 205-177 – to lead 3.5-2.5. With a 225-203 margin in game five, A-State forced a modified Baker game – frames six thru 10 – to decide the match. Jax State took the modified Baker game 125-96 to clinch the title.
Maggie Thoma and Malaya Chavez were named to the CUSA Championship All-Tournament Team.
A-State will host a NCAA selection show watch party Wednesday, March 25, at 2:45 p.m. at The Social in Jonesboro. The NCAA Championship field will feature a 19-team double-elimination tournament with 10 automatic qualifiers and eight at-large bids. The 19 teams are split into four regions – one site with four teams, three sites with five teams each.
NCAA Regionals are April 2-4 in Rochester, N.Y., Pittsburgh, Pa., Lansing, Mich., or Arlington, Texas. The National Collegiate Bowling Championship is April 10-11 at Yorktown Lanes in Parma Heights, Ohio (Cleveland area).
