SALEM, Va. - The Shaw University bowlers placed an impressive third in the CIAA Championship held at at AMF Lee-Hi Lanes on Sunday. 

The Lady Bears finished behind CIAA powers Fayetteville State and Bowie State in the eight-team two-day tournament. Fayetteville State captured the title and Bowie State was runner-up.  

Both Brooke Smith and Necarri Moore of Shaw were named to the five-person all-tournament team, based on the highest individual averages. On Saturday, Smith was named 2023 CIAA Bowler of the Year and CIAA Rookie Bowler of the Year in addition to joining Moore on the All-CIAA team.

HOW IT HAPPENED

On Day Two, Fayetteville State faced Bowie State and Johnson C. Smith took on Shaw in the winner's bracket while Virginia State, Virginia Union, Elizabeth City State and Livingstone battled in the loser's bracket.

Bowie State jumped to an early 1-0 lead over Fayetteville State with a 172-155 win in game one. FSU answered with a 189-136 victory in game two to tie the series at 1-1. The Broncos would ultimately secure the victory by winning the next three games with scores of 145-129, 214-129 and 202-147, respectively. The 4-1 series win sent the Broncos to the championship round while the Bulldogs dropped to the loser's bracket to face the JCSU-Shaw winner.

Shaw advanced to face Bowie State after defeating Johnson C. Smith 4-2. Shaw took control early, winning the first two games by scores of 144-124 and 120-109. The Golden Bulls dominated the next two games with scores of 147-115 and 153-136 to tie the series 2-2. The Lady Bears would go on to secure the victory by winning the next two games 151-133 and 149-129. 

Bowie State swept Shaw 4-0 with scores of 167-119, 165-123, 210-145, and 180-144. The victory sent the Bulldogs to the championship game for a rematch against Fayetteville State. The final match featured both regular season division winners - (Bowie State - Northern Champion) and Fayetteville State (Southern Champion). Fayetteville State wasted no time in the championship game by sweeping the six-time defending champs 4-0. The scores were 177-161, 191-154, 175-146 and 192-163. 

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Five bowlers were named to the 2023 CIAA All-Tournament Team based on their individual averages. For her efforts in helping her team secure the team title, Paige Rockwell of Fayetteville State was named Food Lion Women's Bowling Tournament MVP in addition to receiving all-tournament honors.

Carrington Hayward, Livingstone

Brooke Smith, Shaw

Necarri Moore, Shaw 

Jayda Gignac, Fayetteville State 

Cecelia Chafin, Fayetteville State

The CIAA contributed to this release