SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The ECC champion Bryant women's bowling team will face the No. 4 overall seed Louisiana Tech on Friday in the Regional Round of the NC Bowling Championship.

The Bulldogs are making their first tournament appearance in program history, fresh off their first ECC title. Bryant cruised through the conference tournament, defeating Adelphi then Molloy twice to capture the title.

Bryant will face LA Tech on Friday, then either Wichita State or Newman. The tournament is a double-elimination mega-match format. The first is a traditional 5-person game, the second is Baker Total Pinfall, and if necessary, the third is a Best-of-7 Baker.

KEY BOWLERS FOR BRYANT

• ECC Bowler of the Year Olivia Hillman. She led the team in traditional and baker format, scoring 20.03 per frame in traditional and 20.84 in baker.
• First Team All-ECC selection Laura Clark. She ranked second on the team in traditional, scoring 19.41 per frame. She ranked third in baker format, scoring 19.28 per frame.
• First Team All-ECC selection and Frisco native Madison Damer, will make her return to the Lone Star State. She ranked second on the team in baker format, scoring 19.35 per frame.
• Second Team All-ECC selection Madison Lewis. She scored 18.96 per frame in traditional and 18.90 in baker.

SCOUTING LA TECH

• Top seed in the region with a 77-34 record.
• Finished in third place in the Conference USA Championship.
• 44 ranked wins this season and seven top five finishes.
• Head coach Matt Nantais is in his 10^th season at the helm. He's led LA Tech to six straight NCAA tournament appearances.
• Senior Jenna Stretch has been their standout bowler. She leads the team in traditional and baker, scoring 20.78 per frame in traditional and 20.74 per frame in baker.

SERIES HISTORY WITH LA TECH

• LA Tech is 3-0 all-time against Bryant.
• They won both meetings during the regular season in the Destination Orlando tournament in October and the Northeast Classic in January.

SCOUTING WICHITA STATE

• No. 2 seed in the region with a 73-33 record.
• Lansing Region champions last season. Defeated Vanderbilt and Felician twice to punch their ticket to the Final Four. They fell to No. 1 Jacksonville State and No. 2 Nebraska in the Final Four.
• Fell to No. 7 Youngstown State and No. 9 Sacred Heart in mega-match format in the Conference USA Championship.
• Head coach Holly Harris is in her second season at the helm. She has guided the program to their transition to the NCAA Division I level. In her first season last year, she won CUSA Coach of the Year and NTCA National Coach of the Year and led the Shockers to the Final Four.
• Led by the junior duo of Aleesha Oden and Sara Duque. Oden leads the team in traditional, scoring 21.48 per frame. Duque leads the team in baker, scoring 20.92 per frame.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE SHOCKERS

• Wichita State won the lone meeting last season 951-837 in the Penguin Classic.

SCOUTING NEWMAN

• No. 3 seed in the region with a 73-30 record.
• Great Lakes Valley conference tournament champions, going 4-0 against Quincy, McKendree, Oklahoma Christian, and Maryville.
• Won their last five matches in a row.
• 29 ranked wins during the regular season.
• Head coach Billy Murphy is in his 23^rd season. He was named the GLVC Coach of the Year.
• Claire Jacobson was named the GLVC Freshman of the Year. She ranked third in the conference with a 203.0 traditional average.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE JETS

• This would mark the first-ever meeting between Bryant and Newman.

FOLLOW ALONG
All matches will be streamed on Bowl TV. To get an inside look at Bryant women's bowling, follow the Bulldogs on Instagram and Facebook @bryantbowl and on X @BryantBowl.