NEW CASTLE, Del. -- With a strong showing in bracket play, Sunday, the 25th-ranked Kutztown University women's bowling team moved forward from eighth to take part in the fifth-place match, before ultimately finishing sixth at the Wilmington Wildcat Invitational.

The Golden Bears were on it from the start and needed to be as the competition was fierce. Kutztown and Bloomfield split the first two games of their best-of-seven series, with the Golden Bears taking game one 211-189 and Bloomfield answering 212-193 in game two.

Games three and four were equally tight, but KU came through with a 15-pin triumph in the third, 227-212, and a slim four-pin margin of victory in the fourth, 193. Staring at a 3-1 deficit, Bloomfield couldn't recover. The Maroon and Gold put the match away by a commanding 210-154 score to move up a rung.

Next up was Felician for the team of Megan Hanaway (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township), Madison Lund (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg), Rachel Wagner (Cheektowaga, N.Y./Depew), Eleni Feggulis (South River, N.J./South River) and Chloe Sromovski (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial). Kutztown won the first three games and closed out its 40th victory of the season (40-30) by a 4-1 count. The Bears' threw a match-high 226 in game three and finished off the Golden Falcons with a 221 in the fifth.

Kutztown's two wins placed it in the fifth-place match against Mercyhurst. The Golden Bears again got off to a great start and looked like they might avenge Friday's loss to the Lakers in Baker play. KU won game one 200-193 and game two 209-183. Following a Mercyhurst win in the third, the Bears extended their lead in the series to 3-1 with a thrilling 233-219 win, but the Lakers rallied to win the final three.

In 17 games Sunday, the Bears knocked down 3,352 pins for an impressive 197.2 average.

If the Golden Bears qualify, they are next scheduled to be in action three weekends from now in the USBC Sectionals, March 11-13.