RICHARDSON, Texas (Jan. 12, 2019) – Success in individual games didn't continue into Baker games for Oklahoma Christian on Saturday in the Southwest Intercollegiate Bowling Circuit (SWIBC) V tournament at AMF Richardson.

Still, the early success by Melissa McConnell, Taylore Ryan and Kaitlyn Esquer – with the latter setting an OC single-game scoring record – proved enough to give the Lady Eagles a fourth-place team finish in the eight-team field.

McConnell, a sophomore from Canton, Ga., finished second among 63 individual bowlers, with a five-game score of 974, including an opening game of 237 that – ever so briefly – gave her OC's individual single-game record.

Ryan, a freshman from Allen, Texas, had a 254 game en route to a five-game score of 974, good for third place (as McConnell won a tiebreaker for second). But the 254 didn't set a new OC record, because Esquer, a freshman from Lawton, bowled a 256 in game two to surpass McConnell's minutes-old mark. Esquer finished fifth overall at 943, joining McConnell and Ryan on the all-tournament team.

Before Saturday, OC's single-game record had been 234, rolled by Ryan at the SWIBC I tournament at Western Bowl in Amarillo, Texas, on Sept. 22 – the first event in program history.

McConnell's runner-up finish was a career-best, topping a pair of third-place finishes at the SWIBC I and II tournaments in Amarillo. Carley Sullivan of Newman (Kan.) finished atop the individual standings Saturday with a 981 score.

For all of OC's success individually, the Lady Eagles didn't fare as well during 16 Baker games, finishing with an overall team score of 6,925. Newman (Kan.) won the team title with a score of 7,362, followed by Kansas Wesleyan (7,233) and West Texas A&M (6,939).

"The ladies had a good team event but struggled in Baker," OC coach James Hayes said. "We had a chance in the last match to move up to third but fell just a little short."

OC will be back in action on Sunday, competing in the SWIBC VI tournament at Plano Super Bowl in nearby Plano.