Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University women's bowling team held its inaugural Strike Out Lupus fundraiser tournament on Saturday before hosting the ECAC Championship on Sunday and finishing in fourth place.

On Saturday, seven universities and local bowlers helped to raise much needed research funds for the Long Island/Queens affiliate of Lupus Alliance of America. The field of 99 bowlers, of which 66 were among the best bowlers in the nation, saw Adelphi's Erica Schneider battle Brittany Hart of LIU-Brooklyn in the collegiate finals. The match started evenly but Hart finished the match with eight straight strikes, dispatching Schneider 257-208. Ashley Howe of St. Francis University defeated Christine Gordon of Kutztown, 178-144, in the consolation match.

The ECAC team championship began on Sunday with the Panthers defeating the Kutztown University Golden Bears by 64 pins, 778-714. The squad then defeated the Tigers of Cheyney University by 57 pins, 739-682. The Terriers of St. Francis University fell to the Panthers by 53 pins in match three, 746-693. The Panthers held at 27 pin lead heading into game three and trailed by only three pins heading into the final game, but the Blackbirds of LIU rallied in the final game to take a 52 pin win, 770-718.

Adelphi then led from beginning to end to take a 10 pin win against St. Francis University, 721-711. The Panthers entered the finals in second place with an opportunity to clinch the title by defeating LIU. The Blackbirds struck early and often and led wire to wire taking the match by 137 pins, 850-713. The loss dropped Adelphi to fourth place.

The Panthers finished 4-2 and are now 61-27 on the season. They return to action on March 2 at Strike 10 Lanes in Brooklyn, N.Y, at the NEC #3 event.

In individual honors, Eric Schneider was selected for the All-tournament team with a 20.00 filled frame average.

Results

AU 1 KU 0
AU 1 Cheyney 0
AU 1 SFCNY 0
AU 0 LIU 1
AU 1 SFUPA 0
AU 0 LIU 1