By Lauren Gudknecht
Staff Writer

The KU women’s bowling team has officially finished up their first half of the season. The Bears are building towards the second half and postseason, in which KU will be hosting three more regular season events, as well as the ECC Championships from March 22-24. The team has held onto the final spot of the NCAA Top 25, as well as ranking USBC No. 61 out of the Top 64 who will attend sectionals in March. If the team manages to keep this pace, they should have no problem retaining a position at the USBC Sectionals Invite. Junior Angela Kozma, captain, led the team with an overall frame fill of 80%. Following her is key bowler, sophomore Keanna Delp holding a frame fill of 79%. Junior Alexis Case ended with 70.5%, and lastly, freshman Ashley Fister obtained 70.4% total frames filled.

On Nov. 2, Fister was named ECC Rookie of the Week. She led KU with a team-high Baker average of 19.73 at the Caldwell Classic. At the UMES Hawk Classic, the KU bowling team was one of only two Division II schools competing. Coach Joseph Ambrose said, “We did well last season as we needed to rebuild our core after losing seven seniors, which included several all-conference selections, from 2016-17. It was nice to be back in the Top 25 for most of the regular season, but we are set on reaching new heights in 2018-19.”

Kozma has been an All-East Coast Conference (ECC) selection in each of her two seasons in Maroon and Gold, earning first and second team honors. Delp earned a KU-record of four ECC Rookie of the Week awards during her freshman year. The team acquired seven new freshmen at the beginning of season 12.

The team has many valuable players that attribute to their success and versatility on and off the lanes. The team is coached by Joseph Ambrose and assisted by Jay Fitts. The KU women’s bowling team is looking to wrap up the second half of the season strong.