Coram, N.Y. - The Adelphi University women's bowling team has earned a first-round bye at this weekend's ECC Championship, after an impressive initial effort in the opening qualifying round of the tournament Friday at Coram Country Lanes.

The Panthers, who are the designated host of the championship, posted a 4-1 record in the qualifying round, which consisted of five Baker matches.

After the first four rounds, Adelphi only trailed Wilmington for the clubhouse lead by 39 pins. The Panthers won their first four matches by an average of nearly 100 pins.

A concluding 1,013-805 loss to now-No. 1 seed Daemen still kept Adelphi above the cutline for a playoff-round bye with a 4,691 total pinfall.

"After a long, grueling day in the books, our girls bowled well enough to advance into tournament play with a first-round bye." said Head Coach Dennis Kearney. "I'm very proud of how they handled themselves throughout each match and we're looking forward to starting bracket play with the same mental toughness as we did today."

The tournament now moves to a double-elimination format, and Adelphi will meet No. 12 seed Chestnut Hill College to begin the playoff round on Saturday.

Earlier today, Adelphi defeated Chestnut Hill in the qualifying round, 950-855.

The Panthers are in search of their first ECC title since 2017, when the Brown and Gold won their second of back-to-back championships.