ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's bowling team finished this weekend's Saint Francis University Red Flash Invitational on a strong note Sunday, winning all three of its matches and moving up the team leaderboard to finish in seventh place.

Penn State Altoona entered the day in ninth place, but the Lions went 3-0 on Sunday to ascend the standings and finish in seventh place out of 10 teams. Sunday's championship bracket consisted of three best-of-seven baker matches, and Penn State Altoona was victorious over a trio of Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponents to move two spots up the leaderboard. The Lions posted a 4-2 win over Mount Aloysius College, a 4-1-1 victory over Pitt-Bradford, and a 4-2 triumph against Pitt-Greensburg.

"Everyone today pulled together to move up two places in the rankings to finish in seventh place, as each baker match went six games out of seven. Today, we showed improvement and teamwork. We pulled together, were successful, and I appreciate everyone's hard work and dedication to the team," said Penn State Altoona head coach Elizabeth Rhodes. "I would also like to thank all the students who came out and cheered on the team over the weekend. This was the largest crowd we have had to date, and the support for the women's bowling team was much appreciated."

Division I Duquesne University won the invitational, Division I Mount Saint Mary's University was the runner-up, and AMCC program Saint Vincent College placed third.

Ninth-seeded Penn State Altoona started its day with a matchup against nearby AMCC rival Mount Aloysius, which entered the day as the 10th seed in Sunday's championship bracket. The Lions established an early edge in the match, winning the first game 178-133. But the Mounties struck back, going up 2-1 in the match after defeating Penn State Altoona by scores of 148-116 and 202-137 in the next two games. However, the Lions rallied to win the next three games by scores of 177-105, 201-140, and 148-145 to earn a 4-2 victory to start the round.

In the next match, Penn State Altoona moved on to face AMCC foe Pitt-Bradford, which entered the round as the eighth seed in the bracket. The Lions continued to ride their momentum from the first match and jumped out to a commanding 3-0 lead, beating Pitt-Bradford by scores of 123-102, 148-137, and 151-145 in the first three games. The Panthers stayed alive by winning the fourth game 147-115, and the two teams played to a 135-135 tie in the fifth game. But Penn State Altoona nabbed the decisive fourth win in the sixth game, as the Lions pulled out a 151-123 triumph to clinch the 4-1-1 victory.

In their third and final match of the day, the Lions found themselves matched up against AMCC opponent Pitt-Greensburg, which started the day as the bracket's seventh seed. The teams traded points early in the match, with the Lions winning the first game 193-157 and the Bobcats prevailing 146-141 in the second game. Penn State Altoona grabbed a two-point lead in the match by winning the next two games by scores of 171-156 and 170-115. Pitt-Greensburg edged the Lions 142-139 in the fifth game, but the Lions put the finishing touches on the match with a 178-151 victory in the sixth game to grab their third match win of the day, 4-2.

The Penn State Altoona women's bowling team returns to action next weekend, when the Lions dip back into AMCC play for the second and final conference round robin tournament of the regular season. The round robin will be hosted by New Jersey City University on Friday, February 2 through Sunday, February 4 and will consist of traditional team format matches.