After advancing as one of just 16 teams nationally, women's bowling exited the Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITC) in the third round on Friday at South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas. The Lady Lions lost two straight best-of-seven matches to be eliminated from the double-elimination bracket.

The week of competition began with 24 baker games of qualifying Thursday morning. As was typical of the team during the 2024-25 campaign, they started slowly with a set of 670. Lindenwood rebounded nicely to follow with 755 and 790, including high games of 224 and 215 to briefly ascend to 10^th place, but the Lady Lions fell back to 16^th place after struggling in the fourth set. Despite finishing with 790 and then 802 in the position round, Lindenwood could not claw its way out of the final position in the standings and settled for the No. 16 seed in the bracket.

The Lady Lions faced top seeded Jacksonville State University and jumped to a big lead in the opening frames of game one, but three straight opens, a result of two washouts and a split, turned the tide. Despite the deficit, a strike in the ninth frame gave Lindenwood a chance in the 10^th. Needing a double and nine pins, only the first strike would fall leaving the Lady Lions with a 196-186 loss.

The Gamecocks were on fire in game two. Despite a clean 214 from Lindenwood, JSU cruised to victory with a score of 258 to take a 2-0 lead in the match. After flipping back to their starting lanes, game three proved to be lower scoring. The Lady Lions struggled with filling frames early with three missed makeable spares, and a pocket 7-10 split in the fifth frame didn't help either. Lindenwood did put a four-bagger together in the eighth, ninth, and 10^th, but just made the loss closer at 202-181.

Facing a 3-0 deficit, the Lady Lions put another four-bagger on the board in the first half of game four, but a washout open in the eighth made it close again. A strike in the ninth put Lindenwood in position to mark in the 10^th for a win to extend the match, but the first ball missed the head pin, leaving a tricky 1-2-4-8. The spare shot looked good enough to cover but somehow chopped the 1-2-4 off the eight. That ended the match for the Lady Lions with a 194-188 loss. Despite averaging 192.25, Lindenwood had been swept 4-0.

With a round three match Friday morning to attempt to extend their tournament, the Lady Lions took on No. 9 seeded Central Missouri (UCMO). After a couple of opens through the first four frames, including another pocket 7-10, game one was still close, but the Jennies had the advantage through eight frames. Once again, a strike in the ninth frame gave the Lady Lions a chance to double in the 10^th for victory, but once again the first strike fell and the second didn't, leaving Lindenwood just short in a 183-180 loss.

After flipping lanes, the Lady Lions found some rhythm in game two and easily cruised to a convincing 220-165 win to even the match 1-1, but returning to the right lane proved to be frustrating. After just one strike and two opens through the first eight frames, including yet another pocket 7-10, Lindenwood was shutout, but finished with a flurry to make the loss closer at 196-182.

The Lady Lions returned to the left lane for game four and once again cruised to a big victory 230-162. Now tied 2-2 and with every win coming on the left lane, Lindenwood returned to the right lane. If the Lady Lions could 'steal' a win on the tougher lane, it would put them in great position to take the match. The Lady Lions did just that. After a split in frame four left them trailing, they then struck on six of the next seven balls to pull away from UCMO for a 226-201 victory.

With a 3-2 lead in the match and a switch back to the left lane, Lindenwood was now poised to take the match, but perhaps the excitement of the moment knocked the Lady Lions off their game just a bit. They struck three of the first five shots but split and opened the other two and raced a couple frames ahead of the Jennies. Central Missouri was a bit more deliberate, but it was still a close game through six frames. Lindenwood then split in the seventh and opened in the eighth. The loss of count gave the Jennies the advantage and they capitalized by shutting out the Lady Lions in excruciating fashion by just one pin. Ultimately, it was a 171-169 victory for UCMO, sending the match to a deciding game seven.

The Jennies wasted little time and promptly started with a four-bagger, but Lindenwood answered with three in a row in frames two through four. A great shot left a four-pin in the fifth and a strike in the sixth kept it very close. Despite a split in the seventh, the Lady Lions could strike out for 237 while Central Missouri could only strike out for 231, but another split from Lindenwood in the eighth made the situation more precarious. The Lady Lions needed some help, but didn't get it. The Jennies did indeed strike out and the season ended for Lindenwood in a 231-205 loss.

Despite outscoring the Jennies 1412 (201.71 average) to 1309 (187 average) in the seven-game match, the Lady Lions lost four games to three.

With an 0-2 match record, women's bowling finished in the 13^th through 16^th position at the 2025 ITC. The Lady Lions entered the event as the sixth ranked team in the country according to the final National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association (NCBCA) poll of the season.

The women's ITC roster included seniors Haylie Frick and Samantha Smith; juniors Hailey Bozych, Liz Rittenour, and Carissa Merkle; and sophomores Maddie Millsaps, Julia Smith, and Izzy Fletcher, along with alternates senior Karsyn Braasch and freshman Sadie Bettendorf.