BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The No. 14 LIU Brooklyn women's bowling team will begin 2018 at a very familiar destination, the Kutztown Invitational in Reading, Pa., where the Blackbirds go every January to lead off the second half of the season.

This year's tournament is one of the biggest and strongest fields in NCAA bowling with 28 teams, 17 of which are currently ranked in the top 25 and six of which are former NCAA Championship schools, including the defending NCAA champions, No. 2 McKendree.

This weekend's tournament will have 16 of the top 18 teams in the latest NTCA poll, including McKendree, No. 3 Arkansas State, No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Sam Houston State, No. 6 Delaware State, No. 7 Stephen F. Austin, No. 8 Maryland-Eastern Shore, No, 9 Tulane, No. 10 Fairleigh Dickinson, No. 12 Sacred Heart, No. 13 Adelphi, co-No. 14 Alabama-Birmingham, No. 16 Saint Francis University, No. 17 North Carolina A&T and No. 18 Wisconsin-Whitewater. No. 24 Monmouth is the final ranked team in attendance.

The tournament will begin on Friday, Jan. 19 and run until Sunday, Jan. 21, with five baker matches on Friday and five traditional matches on Saturday. Sunday's bracketed playoff will be best-of-seven baker format, with the seeds determined by average pinfall over the first two days at Hiester Lanes in Reading, Pa.

LAST TIME ON THE LANES
In the last event before the holiday break, the Blackbirds went 4-2 at the Northeast Conference Meet #1 for a three-way tie atop the standings with Sacred Heart and Saint Francis U. LIU bowled a 190.2 scoring average (second highest) in league play at Sims Lanes in Beaver Falls, Pa. over the two days in 32 total games.

LAST TIME AT KUTZTOWN
Earlier in the fall, LIU began the season at Kutztown's Bud Whitman Invitational and came back to campus with a 9-1 mark and a second place trophy. The Blackbirds finished the two days at Colonial-Berks Lanes, with a 198.9 scoring average, the highest of the season. Senior Lauren McKowen was named the NEC's Bowler of the Week for her performance that weekend.

QUICK STRIKES

• The Blackbirds finished the 2017 Kutztown Invitational with a 9-6 overall record, good for 10th place out of 26 teams.
• Head coach Kayla Jones will return to her alma mater once again. Jones was a an All-American and four-time team MVP at Kutztown, leading KU to its first ever NCAA Bowling Championship appearance as a junior.
• The KU Invitational is also the site of the greatest single game in LIU program history, when Jones' 2014-15 squad threw a perfect 300 in a baker match - 12 consecutive strikes by all five players - on Jan. 27, 2014.
• LIU looks to build off of a current 35-20 record so far this season. Competition in Pennsylvania will open on Friday with play to begin at 11:00 a.m.