Jan. 27, 2012
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- When other teams get tired, the Fayetteville State Lady Broncos get better.
As they march toward 600 wins, the defending CIAA Bowling Champions cruised through CIAA Southern Division play, getting stronger and better as other teams wilted on the first day of the second of CIAA Southern Division meets at B&B Bowling Lanes on Friday in Fayetteville.
Fayetteville State (15-1), which moved within seven victories of 600, finished the day 5-0 in league play, capping the day with a brilliant victory over Livingstone. The Lady Broncos totaled 1,000 pins in their final match, beating a Lady Blue Bears team that had been competitive throughout the day by a staggering 356 pins.
In that match, Fayetteville State freshman Crystal Mujica and Megan Maynor, both Fayetteville natives, rolled sturdy 225s, with both striking in six straight frames. As a team, Fayetteville State recorded 14 straight frames without leaving one open, blitzing past a weary Livingstone.
The Lady Broncos, who won the CIAA Championship for the second time in four years when they romped to the title a year ago with a 72-13 mark, are on pace to become the first CIAA program to reach 600 wins during Baker matches play on Sunday. Fayetteville State returns to divisional play with the meet's second day of competition beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The meet concludes with the Baker matches on Sunday, with play beginning around 9 a.m.
Fayetteville State opened the day with a 17-pin win over rival Winston-Salem State, 856-839, getting a 211 from 2010-11 CIAA Rookie of the Year De'Andrea Bethea (So., Raleigh, N.C.), who made her season debut after missing the first meet with an injury in November. Bethea returned in top form, averaging a team-best 190.4
Also returning to the Lady Broncos' lineup from the fabled "Fab Five" of the title team was Daisy Weishman (So., Fayetteville, N.C.), who finished with a 163.5 average, coming up with a team-best 186 in the 855-650 win over Shaw. Weishman also missed the first meet of the season with an injury.
Fayetteville State had four players finish with averages above 184 - Bethea, Mujica (187.6), Kelly Wakerhauser (Sr., Portage, Wis.; 186.25) and Maynor (184.67), who rotated in and out of the lineup to rest other Lady Broncos' players.
Fayetteville State added an impressive 941-856 win over St. Augustine's, getting a 209 from Mujica and a 206 from Wakerhauser. The Lady Broncos also drubbed Johnson C. Smith 832-621, getting a 212 from Bethea.
