SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Marian University women's bowling team improved two positions from last season's finish at the 2012 Blue and Gold Classic at Chippewa Bowl in South Bend, Ind., over the weekend.

The Knights finished 11th out of 42 varsity programs with 8,047 total pins for a nine-game average of 894.1. Wichita State University earned the victory with Robert Morris University in Illinois placing second.

Sophomore Amanda Klinger had the best look on the pattern for the Knights after she turned in an 11th-place performance in the individual competition. She tallied 1,773 total pins for a nine-game average of 197. She bowled a team-high game of 257 in the the sixth game of the tournament.

Junior Kayla Rhoades turned in a 39th-place finish after she tallied 1,669 total pins for a nine-game average of 185.4, while sophomore Lanie Bledsoe finished with 1,396 total pins for an eight-game average of 174.5. Sophomore Alicia Simpson finished with 1,152 total pins for a 164.6 average of seven games, while sophomore Meghan Hardy finished with 1,056 total pins and a 176 average over six games.

Sophomore Samantha Grimes finished with 720 total pins for a five-game average of 180, while sophomores Elizabeth Bischoff and Lauren Gunderson turned in a 141 and 140, respectively, in their one game bowled.

The Knights will head to the American Heartland Intercollegiate Bowling Conference IV tournament on February 4 at Western Bowl in Cincinnati, Ohio.