SINKING SPRING, Pa. -- Kutztown University women's bowling entered Sunday's best-of-7 bracket play as the top seed at the Griffin Baker Classic, but dropped three tightly-contested matches against formidable foes to place fourth.

After knocking off No. 17 Fairleigh Dickinson in its final match on Saturday, the Golden Bears and Knights were paired up again to start Sunday as the top two seeds. Both teams came out firing, as KU got strikes from Lindsey Gotwalt (Hanover, Md./Meade) and Dana Henry (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township) in both of their frames, but FDU struck eight times and left no open frames in a 236-197 game one win.

Rachel Wagner (Cheektowaga, N.Y./Depew) struck in frames three and eight for the Maroon and Gold in game two, but four consecutive strikes by FDU between the fourth and seventh frames lifted it to a 225-166 victory and 2-0 series lead. Kutztown (44-37) took a late lead in game three on Madison Burkert's (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) strike in the ninth frame and withstood a closing four-bagger from FDU to win 180-178 and pull within a game. She was joined in KU's initial lineup by Gotwalt, Henry, Wagner and Keanna Delp (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg).

The Knights' third 200+ game of the series resulted in a 236-191 win and FDU moved into the championship with a 192-156 game five win to take the series 4-1.

The Golden Bears still had championship aspirations, but their route to a tournament title would have to go through No. 18 Delaware State. KU knocked off the Hornets on Saturday, but dropped game one 210-127. Following the opener, Laura Hartley (Mt Pleasant Mills, Pa./Midd-West) moved into the lead off spot and a few other Bears swapped positions in the lineup. The move paid quick dividends, with KU rolling back-to-back 244 games to take a 2-1 lead. The Bears collected six straight strikes in a 244-207 game two triumph, and opened with four in a row during its 244-162 game three win.

Though Kutztown put up solid scores the rest of the way, Delaware State got hot late in games to win the series 4-2 behind three straight wins (201-177 in game four, 222-190 in game five and 176-163 in game six). Ella Luzzi (Spring Lake, N.J./Manasquan), one of four seniors honored prior to play Sunday, came in to roll a strike on the final shot of the 10th frame in game five and then joined Hartley, Henry, Delp and Burkert in the lineup for game six.

The loss to the Hornets relegated KU to the third-place match against Molloy. With another senior, Renee Riffey (Glen Burnie, Md./North County), getting a shot, Kutztown recovered from a 225-203 loss in game one to win the next two 203-172 and 190-185. The Golden Bears were a win away from claiming third following a 170-136 victory in game five, but the Lions forced a decisive seventh game with a 210-142 win in game six and outlasted KU 194-181 in game seven.

Joining Luzzi and Riffey in Senior Day ceremonies were Megan Bauter (Spring Lake, N.J./Manasquan) and Alexis Case (Ocean, N.J./Ocean Township). The quartet's careers were recognized with speeches from their teammates, along with commemorative posters and pins from the team.

Kutztown closes out the 2019-20 regular season with a trip to the Morgan State-hosted James Brown Invitational at AMF Towson Lanes in Towson, Maryland, next weekend.