BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – After three bracket wins and two hard-fought clashes with Pikeville, Lady Tiger bowling earned the Mid-South Conference runner-up title on Saturday at Southern Lanes.

MSC Results | MSC Bracket

The Lady Tigers found success the previous day, crowning Crystal Land and Chelsey Stephens as MSC Doubles Champions and Chelsey Stephens as individual runner-up. They looked to continue their noteworthy play as they competed Saturday for the MSC title.

Second-seeded Campbellsville matched up with seventh-seeded Cumberland University for the first match of team play. CU kept its pin total over 170 every game, which led them to an easy 4-0-1 win (171-136, 173-173, 207-160, 189-162, 171-141). Campbellsville's best bowling was in game three, when the ladies totaled 207 pins.

After the win over Cumberland, Campbellsville took on the third-seed, St. Catharine. Strong team game totals of 213 and 195 pins helped push the Lady Tigers past the Patriots in just four games (213-172, 166-146, 195-135, 157-152).

The Lady Tigers continued their MSC title quest with a match against top-seeded, regular season champions University of Pikeville Bears. But with Bears' pin totals all over 205, CU fell in four games (146-227, 171-208, 197-242, 224-225).

In the consolation bracket, CU defeated sixth-seeded Union College in five games (243-182, 161-173, 200-184, 211-155, 173-151). The 4-1 victory moved the women up to the last spot of the bracket, where they took on Pikeville in a rematch for the title.

CU knocked Pikeville's nearly perfect tournament record as they won the first game of the rematch, 159-153. But the Bears came back and won games two and three, before tying with CU for game four (190-201, 169-183, 150-150). Top-seeded Pikeville continued their performance and finished the match with two more wins (205-236, 160-182).

Campbellsville's spirits weren't dampened, though, as they received the MSC runner-up honor. Neither was Coach John Rausch's, who said he was pleased with the results.

"Our women's team represented CU by fighting a long battle to the last round in double elimination match play leaving CU and UPike the last teams standing, but ultimately finished second," he said. "I am quite proud of both our women's and men's bowling teams at their attitude and competitiveness."

Lane conditions at Southern Lanes made adjustments difficult for the MSC teams competing there, according to Rausch.

"Though keeping all schools' scores lower, it does show how the best bowlers rise to the top in adapting their delivery to the lane conditions, and these changes are constant throughout and going lane-to-lane," Rausch said.

He believes the challenge will allow them to face their upcoming postseason play with more preparation. After this weekend, he is encouraged about the future of Tiger and Lady Tiger bowling.

"At the championship, not only did they give it their very best effort, they supported each other, within the team, between our men's and women's teams, and showed good sportsmanship with our competitors," he said. "It has been, I believe, our best season to date for both programs since our first one in 2009-10.

"Look for more good things to come."

CU has one last regular season competition, Feb. 14-15, as the Lady Tigers travel to Western Bowl Indianapolis, Ind., for the Backhaul Direct Hoosier Classic. Postseason play will continue with the NAIA Championships and USBC Sectionals later this spring.