LANSING, Mich. – SCAD Savannah (Ga.) stunned top-seeded Mount Mercy (Iowa) for a second-straight day, this time in an elimination semifinal Baker match for the Blue Bracket at the 2026 NAIA Women’s Bowling National Championship, earning a 2:30 p.m. ET date with Pikville (Ky.) for the 2026 NAIA Women’s Bowling Red Banner.
The if-necessary match of the Blue Bracket lived up to every bit of its high-stakes billing at Royal Scot on Saturday morning. In a grueling Best-of-7 Baker showdown, No. 4 SCAD Savannah completed a stunning bracket comeback, dethroning top-seeded No. 1 Mount Mercy with a 4-2 victory to punch their ticket to the National Championship.
SCAD Savannah entered the morning with all the momentum after forcing this deciding match the night before. They wasted no time asserting control, jumping out to a commanding 2-0 lead. The Bees’ consistency proved too much for the Mustangs in the opening frames, taking Game 1 (191-147) and Game 2 (180-152) with comfortable margins.
Faced with their season potentially ending in a sweep, the top-seeded Mustangs showed why they held the No. 1 ranking all year. In Game 3, Mount Mercy capitalized on some late-frame misfortune and pin carries that didn’t go SCAD’s way, storming back with a 202-181 win.
However, SCAD quickly extinguished any hopes of a rapid momentum shift by claiming Game 4, 193-163, moving them within one game of the title match.
Mount Mercy refused to go quietly. In an incredibly tense Game 5, the Mustangs survived by the narrowest of margins, edging out the Bees 200-192 to stay alive.
The tension peaked in Game 6. Both teams traded strikes and clutch spares deep into the tenth frame. In a match that remained undecided until the final few shots, SCAD Savannah found the marks they needed to secure a 200-185 victory, officially ending Mount Mercy’s run and clinching the Blue Bracket Championship.
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