Waterloo, N.Y. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's bowling team had a strong start at the season's first AMCC Round Robin on Saturday. Bowling in a 5-game highest pinfall Baker format, the Panthers won 3 of 4 matches and are in 3rd place after the first day of competition.

The Panthers began with a dominant 855-670 win over La Roche. They started strong, winning game one 188-124 and then game 2 197-109. They added to their lead in game 3 with a 177-154 victory. The Redhawks trimmed the Panther lead in the fourth, as Pitt-Bradford fell 141-170. The Panthers closed strong, however, winning the fifth 152-113.

In their second match of the day, the Panthers had a tougher task against Alvernia. The teams split the first two games of the match, but the Panthers emerged victorious with a 793-780 win. Pitt-Bradford jumped ahead early once more, winning game one 183-155 and game two 167-138. The Wolves battled back in games three and four, beating the Panthers 171-145 and 141-176 to take a 4-pin lead into match 4. In the final game, the Panthers edged out a 157-140 win to secure the match victory. 

Pitt-Bradford took on Hilbert in their third match of the day, winning 4 of 5 games to take the match 784-700. The Panthers built a 55-pin lead over the first three games, winning 160-155, 150-138 and 150-112. Their opponents trimmed the lead with a 160-130 win in the 4th, but the Panthers closed strong, taking the fifth 194-135 to secure the third win of the game.

To close the day, Pitt-Bradford took on the defending champs St. Vincent. The Panthers won the first game 175-160, but could not keep up with the Bearcats to close the day. The Panthers fell 144-188 in game two, 147-180  in game three, and 176-209 in game four. The Panthers bowled their best game of the day in the 5th but still fell 200-235 for a final score of 842-972.

Through four matches, the Panthers are tied for 2nd with William Smith and Penn State-Behrend at 3-1. with the total pinfall tiebreaker, they are in third, averaging 163.7 pins per game. The William Smith Herons are in 2nd at 172.8 and Penn State-Behrend is 4th at 160.1.

The Panthers will be back in action tomorrow with 3 more Baker matches. They are scheduled to face William Smith, Penn State-Behrend and Pitt-Greensburg to close the round robin.