HARAHAN, La. – The Colonial Lanes Classic is one of the top tournaments in the country and the Southern University Lady Jaguars stepped up in a big way. Southern (11-7) came away with a 3-2 record on a tough day one where they pulled off a comeback win to upset No. 17 Tulane University.
 
"Today was a good day on the lanes for the girls," head coach Barry Doyle said about their consistent scores. "I told them before we started if they bowl to their ability, the scores will reflect the outcome."
 
Southern started the day out looking to make some noise against No. 24 Lincoln Memorial. The Railsplitters were able to take an early lead after game one, 205-186. The second game went in favor of LMU before the Lady Jaguars were able to close the game in game three, 198-188. The Lady Jaguars tried to close the gap to get their first top 25 victory of the year, but a 206-178 victory would not be enough. LMU would win the match 942-905.
 
The Lady Jaguars would continue their dominance of SWAC schools in the next match vs Texas Southern. Southern would fall behind after the first game, 192-183, but would keep lose enough to pounce on the opportunity in the second game. After a three-pin victory, 189-186, the Lady Jaguars would take command of the lead and would not look back after the third, 201-171. Southern would take the final two games from the Tigers 156-140 and 195-168. That would give them a 68-pin victory, 924-856.
 
The third match would be the highest of the day against Prairie View A&M. Southern would fall behind again after game one 181-175, but they would once again bounce back in a huge way. That six-pin deficit would turn into almost a 40-pin lead after SU would take game two 195-150. The Lady Jaguars would not slow down taking game three 193-145 and game four 231-211. PV would take the last game 211-194 but the lead would hold as Southern would take the match 988-896.
 
National power, No. 4 Stephen F. Austin would test the Lady Jaguars play in the fourth match. SU would not back down and take an early lead 215-181 after game one. SFA would catch fire in the second game and regain the lead after a 236-181. Southern would keep things close the rest of the way but the Lumberjacks would be too much. The final games would all go SFA's way, 174-164, 234-165, and 215-193. Southern would still put up a solid total in the losing effort, 1,040-925.
 
Solid scores throughout the day would have the Lady Jaguars in sixth place going into the final match against No. 17 Tulane. The second meeting of the season between these two teams would go in the Lady Jaguars favor. Southern fell behind by over 70 pins after the first two games, 202-167 and 237-191. SU turned the switch on and made a change the last three games. Game three would see them cut the lead by 23, 210-187. Game four SU cut into the lead by 30 pins, 179-149. The Lady Jaguars would get a four-bagger to close out the game to give them 200-166 win. The final strike in the 10th would give Southern their first top 25 win of the season, 947-941.
 
"We had good tam chemistry all day," Doyle said. "We have more work to do. The traditional games are tomorrow. We need to bring the same focus and energy."
 
UP NEXT
The Colonial Lanes Classic continues tomorrow morning when the Lady Jaguars continue their tough schedule with matches against Alabama State University, No. 5 Sam Houston, Florida A&M, and No. 7 North Carolina A&T. Saturday's competition will consist of five 5-person team matches.

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