TOWSON, Md. -- The Kutztown University women's bowling team leaned on its experience from last weekend's championship bracket appearance to knock off two nationally-ranked teams, Sunday, and finish second in the James Brown Invitational at AMF Towson Lanes.
 
Unlike a week ago when the Golden Bears entered the final day of the Griffin Baker Classic with targets on their backs as the top seed, Kutztown came into Sunday's best-of-7 Baker format play as the No. 4 seed –the lowest of teams still in contention for the title.
 
Relishing the underdog role, KU's lineup of Laura Hartley (Mt Pleasant Mills, Pa./Midd-West), Rachel Wagner (Cheektowaga, N.Y./Depew), Alexis Case (Ocean, N.J./Ocean Township), Keanna Delp (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) and Madison Burkert (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) went back-and-forth with 10th-ranked Duquesne. The Dukes had already gotten the better of the Bears once this weekend, but Kutztown took three separate one-game leads before winning the series 4-3 with a thrilling 189-184 victory in the deciding game.
 
Kutztown (51-42) came out hot with a 236 in game one against Duquesne and responded to a game two loss by capturing the third 196-171. Momentum could have easily changed in the Dukes' favor when they prevailed, 225-223, in game four, but the Bears took the next game 201-188 to lead 3-2.
 
Sacred Heart is a team the Golden Bears have seen numerous times over the years, but Sunday morning marked the first match between the two this season. The 13th-ranked Pioneers won game one, 206-161, but it was all KU from there. Angela Reynolds' team won four straight games to put SHU away, including a high game of 222 in game three. Games four and five came down to the wire, but the Bears showed their mettle by claiming 184-179 and 195-192 victories.
 
To claim its first major tournament title since last season's Bowl for a KUre, Kutztown needed to snap a seven-match losing streak to 14th-ranked Mount Saint Mary's. Lindsay Gotwalt got the call to lead off for the Bears, who took game one, 191-179. The Mountaineers answered with a tough 182-176 win in game two, before rolling 258 and 203 in their next two games to take a 3-1 series lead. Kutztown came close to forcing a sixth game, but Mount Saint Mary's claimed the title with a 192-188 victory in game five.
 
For the 12th straight season, Kutztown topped the 50-win mark and are in strong position to finish with their 10th winning season in 13 seasons as a varsity program going back to 2007-08. The last two weekends have been strong building blocks heading into next month's East Coast Conference Championships.