ALTOONA, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's bowling team finished exactly where it needed to on Sunday. The top-six teams in the final Northeast Conference (NEC) standings qualify for the conference championships later this month, and Kutztown will be one of those teams with a sixth place finish on Sunday after the third and final NEC regular season meet at Holiday Bowl in Altoona, Pa.
 
The Golden Bears (55-47, 9-12 NEC) entered the day in sixth place, and finished the day tied for sixth with Adelphi University. KU won the tiebreaker with a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over Adelphi this year, moving it into sole possession of sixth place and the final team into the NEC Championships on March 20-22 at Howell Lanes in Howell, N.J.
 
Kutztown went 1-2 on Sunday. It opened the day with a 921-873 setback to Sacred Heart, responded with a win over Caldwell (897-769), and ended the day with a 1085-908 loss to LIU Brooklyn.
 
Taylor Strothmann led the way for KU with an average of 187.7 over her three games with a high of 202 in KU's win over Caldwell. Kayla Maselkevich was second on the team with a 187 average including a high of 202 vs. Sacred Heart.
 
Lauren Stamm held the high of the day for KU with a 204 in the finale against LIU Brooklyn, and finished the day with a 179 average.
 
KU went 2-5 over the weekend with a 185.7 average, and finished the NEC regular season at 9-12. Fairleigh Dickinson won the regular season title with a 17-4 record. St. Francis Brooklyn was second at 14-7, Sacred Heart was third at 12-9, Saint Francis (PA) was fourth at 12-9, LIU Brooklyn was fifth at 11-10, KU was sixth at 9-12, Adelphi was seventh at 9-12, and Caldwell finished eighth without a win in its first season in the NEC.
 
The Golden Bears qualified for the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Individual and Team Championships, which take place on March 13-15 in Stratford, N.J.