HARAHAN, La. (3/20/26) – The third-seeded Arkansas State women’s bowling team rallied past second-seeded Vanderbilt 2-1 in a mega-match Friday at Colonial Bowling Lanes to advance to the semifinals of the Conference USA Championship.
 
Vanderbilt grabbed the early advantage with a traditional tally of 1,041-943 over the Red Wolves. Kaylee Back paced A-State (75-32) with a game of 214. Aubrey Kiddle (196), Maggie Thoma (193), Malaya Chavez (181) and Amanda Lang (159) rolled in the traditional portion of the mega-match.
 
Needing to win the Baker 5-game total pinfall to extend the match, the Red Wolves got off to a quick start with a 244-211 advantage in game one. The lead grew to 48 pins with a 220-205 edge in game two, but the Commodores trimmed the A-State lead to nine entering game four with a 239-200 margin. The Red Wolves used strikes in the back five of game four to pull away for a 246-209 triumph and edged Vanderbilt by a total of 1,105-1,087 following the Commodores’ 223-195 advantage in game five.
 
A-State got out to a 3-0 lead in the Baker best-of-seven and went on to clinch the victory in five games. The Red Wolves took game one 225-191 and followed with a narrow 175-169 tally in game two. Using the back five in game three, A-State won 214-180, but Vanderbilt forced game five with a 214-163 margin in game four. The Red Wolves closed out the match with a 7-pin advantage in game five, 179-172.
 
The Red Wolves will meet top-seeded Jacksonville State in the semifinals at 9:00 a.m. Saturday on ESPN+.