STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – The SCAD women's bowling team earned the 2023 NAIA Women's Bowling National Title for the second year in a row, earning the Red Banner by a score of 3-1 Saturday afternoon.
 
TOURNAMENT FORMAT: The NAIA Championship was a double-elimination tournament with 24 Baker games determining the seeding for best-of-five match play.
 
BAKER PLAY: The Bees finished Baker play as the No. 3 seed with a total pinfall of 4722.
 
MATCH PLAY: As the No. 3 seed, SCAD secured a bye in the first round of bracket play.
 
In round two, the Bees faced No. 6 Tennessee Southern and won 3-2 (199-190, 216-224, 243-164, 230-268, 217-192) to advance to round four.
 
In the next round, SCAD defeated No. 2 Saint Francis in four games (189-181, 186-204, 232-176, 190-181). The Bees faced No. 1 Indiana Tech in round five and won 3-1 (189-180, 199-211, 213-191, 203-174) to advance to the Championship Final, where they ended up facing No. 10 Madonna University.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL: In the double-elimination format, Madonna would need to knock them off in two consecutive games to earn the title.
 
SCAD recorded six strikes in Game One to take a 199-165 win. The Crusaders fought back in the second game, claiming a 201-169 victory. Finishing with a turkey, The Bees took a 2-1 advantage by 245-193.
 
In the fourth and final game, SCAD left nothing to doubt as they hit six straight strikes to claim the National Title for the second consecutive year.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Pamela Perez (Carolina, Puerto Rico / Film and Television) was named the Tournament MVP and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team with teammate Ana Olaya (Cali, Colombia / Creative Business Leadership).
 
All-Tournament Team
MVP – Pamela Perez of SCAD-Savannah (Ga.)
Devon Thomas of Spring Arbor (Mich.)
Lakyn Edwards of Indiana Tech
Emily Gurin of Madonna (Mich.)
Ana Olaya of SCAD-Savannah (Ga.)
 
ALL-AMERICANS: Prior to the start of the NAIA National Championship, the NAIA All-Americans were announced. Lara Kurt (Leland, N.C. / User Experience (UX) Design) was named to the Second Team while Ana Olaya was named a Honorable Mention. Head Coach Katie Thornton was named the Women's Bowling Coach of the Year.
 
WHAT'S NEXT? The Bees will travel to Las Vegas, Nev. for the Intercollegiate Team Championships on April 20-22.