GREEN BAY, Wis. – Only 32 players remain in contention for the 2024 United States Bowling Congress Queens title at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with half of those players going 2-0 to start the double-elimination match-play bracket on Sunday.
Sweden’s Nora Johansson; Canada’s Felicia Wong; Julia Bond of Aurora, Illinois; Singapore’s New Hui Fen; Mexico’s Sandra Gongora; Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey; Erin McCarthy of Elkhorn, Nebraska; and Lindsay Boomershine of Brigham City, Utah, have yet to lose a match on the right side of the bracket.
In the elimination bracket, notable names still in the hunt include Latvia’s Diana Zavjalova; Liz Kuhlkin of Schenectady, New York; Stephanie Zavala of Long Beach, California; Stefanie Johnson of McKinney, Texas; Jillian Martin of Stow, Ohio’ and Jen Higgins of Lewis Center, Ohio.
Franco qualified as the fifth seed and shot a massive 817 in her first match with games of 248, 290 and 279. Her 817 was the second-highest three-game match-play series in tournament history, behind only Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia, who had an 822 in 2019. Franco won her second match and will face Elliott.
Franco is averaging over 225 through 21 games bowled, keeping the process simple for herself throughout the week.
“My mindset this week was to just bowl well and keep going,” Franco said. “I made a lot of good shots, and it was great to shoot that high of a series.”
She has already improved from last year’s Queens in Las Vegas where she finished in 91st, and is now guaranteed a top 32 finish no matter what happens Monday.
Higgins had a close loss in the first round to Mexico’s Sandra Gongora, 667-662, but won two in a row in the Elimination Bracket to stay alive for the major title, including a 300 game in the final game of her match against Summer Jasmin of Beckley, West Virginia, to win, 737-676.
“That felt good,” Higgins said after the match. “I left a 7-10 to end the second game and it made me a little frustrated, but also helped really focus me in. I gave it all I could.”
Higgins knows it’s a long road in the Elimination Bracket, but only has one goal in mind going into her next match against Martin, echoing what Franco said.
“I’m just going to keep going and do the best I can,” said Higgins.
All bowlers still alive in both brackets will come back Monday at 10 a.m. Eastern to bowl and will dwindle down until the Winners Bracket has the final two bowlers and the Elimination Bracket has the final four remaining.
The two players in the Winners Bracket will bowl for the No. 1 seed on the television show while the four in the Elimination Bracket will bowl for seeds three through five.
The stepladder finals of the 2024 event will be contested on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Network, with the champion taking home a spot in the tournament’s storied history, a major title on the PWBA Tour and the tiara to go along with the $60,000 top prize. All competition leading up to the televised finals will be streamed live only on BowlTV.
