Aleesha Oden stepped up to bowl the 10th and final frame of the final game of the Wichita State women’s bowling championship match tiebreaker against Jacksonville State University.
Bowl two straight strikes, and the Shockers would compete in another tiebreak match for the Conference USA Championship. Anything less, and a three-day journey that included seven matches would end in disappointment.
But Oden, a sophomore, didn’t know that. She had a history of getting anxious in key moments and told her teammates not to alert her if the score was close.
Additionally, Oden suffered a wrist injury the month before that had prevented her from holding the ball, let alone practicing. She battled through lingering pain the entire tournament, wearing a wrist positioner on her dominant left arm.
Oden stepped up and delivered the consecutive strikes to keep Wichita State alive.
“We got to celebrate a little bit,” Oden said. “But we just knew, after, like, a little moment of super fun and hype and crazy vibes, we kind of just got back. We all got a snack, and then just kind of regrouped and put our feet down, and just kept going.”
Another best-of-seven series went to another climactic seventh game, but Wichita State pulled through on Sunday to become Conference USA champions in its first season of NCAA eligibility.
‘Our house’
The Shockers battled through adversity to become the victors. Wichita State lost its first game of the tournament against Arkansas State University, dropping to the single-elimination contender’s bracket.
WSU needed to win seven consecutive matches, five of which came against teams ranked in the top-10 nationally, to be conference champions.
However, the team didn’t view the path that way, instead choosing to take it one game at a time.
“We always focused on just what was the next thing,” WSU head coach Holly Harris said. “We tried to really … stay present. Feel our feet on the floor, stay grounded in just what was happening right now.”
After the Arkansas State loss, Harris told the team to stay in their imaginary house. No one could enter or leave, and the team could focus solely on bowling their best and not on anything else.
“The nice thing, I guess, in bowling … there is no defense,” Harris said. “So it doesn’t matter what Jacksonville State does. It’s really just what we’re going to do and how we’re going to show up and attack it.”
Harris emphasized the importance of fun and relaxation during tournaments as a way to mitigate stress. Whenever players weren’t throwing shots, they were dancing, singing, doing personalized handshakes and expanding on the house metaphor.
“We were talking about building our own house and staying in our house,” Oden said. “So we would often talk about … we’re at a pool party. It’s our pool party. No one’s coming in, no one’s leaving.”
Blessing in disguise
Harris said losing in the opening match may have been a blessing in disguise. Throughout the season, they had been used to bowling all day at tournaments — and going in the contender’s bracket ensured they would get games rather than breaks during the day.
“I just kind of tried to reframe their minds that, like, this isn’t a bad thing, now we just get to do what we normally do,” Harris said. “It’s no different than any other weekend that we’ve bowled.”
When they arrived at the championship, Wichita State had played six matches, while Jacksonville State had played three.
“We got to experience the pattern more than anybody else in the building all week because we had to go through seven matches before we got to the final match with Jacksonville State,” graduate student Mary Orf said. “So we pretty much knew the game plan going into the final match, and were just really prepared at that point.”
The final three matches of the tournament for the Shockers, including the back-to-back games against Jacksonville State, went to a seven-game tiebreaker. The run of close matches tested the Shockers’ resiliency.
Harris makes the team practice early in the morning to force them to bowl while tired — something that came in handy during the tournament.
“I think I was the most proud of their perseverance through the adversity that was thrown at them, and through the tiredness,” Harris said. “… We had been in the bowling center from about 8 a.m. until about 6 p.m. for three straight days, and the girls were, I mean, you could tell they were tired, but they didn’t show it in what they were doing.”
Special moment
When Oden hit her clutch strikes to force a final tiebreak game, Harris was in disbelief at first that the team had won again — but quickly replaced surprise with understanding.
“My reaction in that moment was just like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe it. Like, we’re going to do this again,’” Harris said. “It’s almost like, I can’t believe it, but I totally can. Like, I wasn’t surprised because they just work hard and put shots on line.”
The team celebrated, but a few snacks and 10 minutes later, they were bowling in the tiebreaker.
“It was just like a light switch flipped, and it was like, ‘Okay, now we’re back to bowling a different type of game, and that match is over, and now we’re just here with the one in front of us,’” Harris said. “So it’s really credit to the girls for being able to flip the switch … we’re like, ‘Okay, what’s one more match? We’ve already been here forever, so what’s one more?’”
After the final frame of the match, the team respectfully went through the handshake line. Then, the party was on.
“Just the excitement all came out,” Orf said. “We were all jumping and screaming, hugging.”
Harris proudly stood to the side and watched. The team had felt pressure the whole year to perform well in their first year of NCAA competition, and coming through in that moment felt special.
“For them to come through with all the other distractions was just so stinking special,” Harris said. “I mean, I was elated. I had tears in my eyes, you know, kind of a lot of fatigue. I was exhausted, and it was a mix of both, like, ‘I’m so glad this is over, and I’m so glad we get to celebrate.’”
The team received tons of text messages, carried their trophy through the airport and were greeted by WSU Athletics personnel when they returned to Wichita.
“So it was just a lot of smiles, a lot of laughs, some cries, some good phone calls with our parents and stuff like that,” Harris said.
After the tournament, the impact began to set in. Orf said rewatching the tournament on ESPN+ on Monday was more stressful than actually competing.
“Like, in the moment, I didn’t really realize, like, how many little things came into play from both sides, from Jacksonville and from us,” Orf said. “And it was just, I don’t even know how to describe it. It was just really cool to pull it off.”
NCAA preview
With the win, the Shockers clinched an NCAA regional bid. The Shockers were picked as a No. 4 overall seed on Wednesday afternoon, but a No. 1 seed in the Lansing Regional. WSU will play Division II school Felician University in the first round in Michigan.
Harris was “thrilled” to get into a conference as strong as Conference USA to begin with — let alone winning it in the first year.
“I mean, there wasn’t really an expectation or anything like that,” Harris said. “We were just going in there to learn. So it kind of feels like gravy that we won.”
Orf, a third-year Shocker who has seen the team grow, said the team feels prepared to compete against NCAA opponents.
“A lot of people always like to say that they want to go out on their final year with a big bang, and I think we’re headed in the right direction for that, and I wouldn’t want to be doing it with another group of girls,” Orf said.
Harris said the team will continue taking it game by game.
“And really just try to stay present and enjoy the time that we have together,” Harris said. “We’ve only got a few weeks left, and then this team will never be together again because it’s going to change a little bit. So really, just trying to soak up as much fun as we can with each other and enjoy how special this team really is.”
The Shockers will begin their NCAA Tournament run on Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5.
