Lansing Mich. - The Nebraska bowling team finished 1-1 on its first day of the 2024 NCAA Lansing Regional Tournament. The Huskers fell in their first match to Maryville before cruising past Marian in the consolation bracket to advance to Saturday and the final round of regional play.
In the bracket opener the Huskers narrowly fell to Maryville, 1028-1052, in the traditional-style format match. Jillian Martin led the team with a score of 235 in the anchor spot, while Kayla Verstraete and Brenna Hartzler each rolled a 206. Alexis Buchert (200) and Lani Breedlove (181) rounded out the squad's total. In the baker-style match, NU trailed the whole way dropping game one (169-226) and game two (204-227) as they fell behind early by 80 pins. The Big Red took the final three games but lost to Maryville, 961-987, to drop to the loser's bracket against Marian.
In Nebraska's second mega-match of the day, the Huskers came out with a win (1032-872) in the traditional format over Marian. Breedlove paced the Huskers with 240, followed by Martin (224) and Hartzler (202) who each eclipsed the 200-pin mark. Buchert (187) and Verstraete (179) completed NU's lineup as the Big Red took its first game of the day. After the win, the Huskers moved into the baker match and took game one (200-159), game two (191-148) and game three (192-177) before dropping the fourth game (148-203). With a 44-pin lead heading into the final game, NU took care of business winning 168-156 to grab a 899-843 victory over Marian and advance to Saturday's final rounds.
The Big Red returns to the lanes tomorrow at 8 a.m. CT in an elimination match against Maryville, where the winner will have to defeat No. 3 Youngstown State twice for the right to advance to the 2024 NCAA Bowling Championships.
Stay up to date with the action by following the Nebraska Women's Bowling Twitter (@HuskerBowling), Instagram, and Facebook. Additionally, all matches will be broadcasted exclusively on BOWL.com (free subscription for the NCAA Regionals).