Men's bowling was ousted in the fifth round while the ladies exited in the fourth on Friday at the 2023 Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITC) at South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas.

The Lions earned the No. 10 seed in the 16-team field after 24 baker games of qualifying on Thursday and lost a close opening round decision against No. 7 seed St. Francis (Ill.) in best-of-seven baker match play before rebounding to win two straight against No. 15 seed Midland and No. 6 seed Purdue on Friday. The tournament run came to an end against No. 2 seed Webber International.

Meanwhile, the Lady Lions earned the No. 6 seed after qualifying and took care of No. 11 seed Pikeville in the first round, but lost two high scoring affairs in back-to-back fashion against No. 3 seed Maryville on Thursday evening and No. 2 seed Louisiana Tech Friday morning to see their title hopes come to an end.

The men's squad had a steady qualifying block to open tournament play. The Lions broke 200, eight times through the opening 12 games, including highs of 236 and 224, to total 2,424 (202 average) and sit in eighth place. Lindenwood continued its consistency with another seven games in the 200's in the second half of qualifying, including a high of 246 to add another 2,421 for an overall total of 4,845 (201.88 average), but the scoring pace increased resulting in the No. 10 qualifying position.

The opening round match against the Saints Thursday afternoon went the distance with neither team taking more than a one-game lead throughout. After the Lions took the first game 191-148, St. Francis rebounded for a 223-190 victory, and followed with a lopsided 225-128 win, but Lindenwood came back with a clean 227-177 victory to even the match. Now a best-of-three situation, St. Francis narrowly took game five 224-213 before the Lions evened things again 190-165. Lindenwood had control of the deciding game seven, but back-to-back splits in the final two frames allowed the Saints to claim a two-pin victory 202-200.

Now on the brink of elimination, the Lions had to wait until Friday morning to return to the lanes, but they did so with a vengeance as they faced No. 15 seed Midland, dispatching the Warriors in five games (242-148; 155-168; 238-168; 200-151; 226-159). Lindenwood was even better against No. 6 Purdue. After dropping the opening game 238-230, the Lions rattled off four straight victories (224-192; 223-203; 216-197; 204-170) to eliminate the Boilermakers.

After a lunch break and re-oil, Lindenwood battled with another Warriors squad in No. 2 Webber International. WIU had been surprised by the same St. Francis team that upended the Lions in the first round. In the first game, the Warriors had all the momentum while the Lions struggled with several splits, resulting in a 206-158 loss. Lindenwood jumped out to a nice advantage in game two, but could not maintain the pace, but still had a chance to clinch the contest with a 4-pin spare conversion. Unfortunately, the Lions missed, giving Webber a chance to steal a victory with a spare conversion and some count, but the Warriors left-handed anchor left a split. WIU brought a right-hander off the bench to convert it. He did, but needing just seven pins to seal the win, he went right through the face for a five-count "Greek church," giving Lindenwood a 187-186 victory.

Now tied at a game each, the third contest was close throughout. Ultimately, the Lions had a chance to take it with a strike on the first ball in the 10^th frame, but it went begging and WIU took it 219-212. The scoring pace in the match only went up from there with the Warriors winning game four, 257-222, to take a 3-1 lead. Lindenwood battled back from the brink in game five 217-201, but Webber was too strong in game six and eliminated the Lions 245-223.

The men's squad entered the ITC as the No. 15 ranked team in the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association (NCBCA) Poll after winning the Dallas Sectional in March and finished tied for seventh at the national championship. The Lions roster included sophomore Juan Pablo Aguirre, freshman Mike Anderson, senior Garrett Jolly, freshman Emmanuel McPherson, senior Javier Muniz Vega, junior Troy Owens, Jr., junior Blake Reiger, and senior Drew Sacks.

The Lady Lions entered the ITC as a clear dark-horse as the only team of the 16 women's squads there not ranked in the top 20 of the NCBCA or NTCA coaches polls, but they quickly made their mark in qualifying, coming out of the gate with games of 212 and 255. Their pace slowed a bit over the next 10 games with only two more in the 200's, but finished the first half with a total of 2,348 (195.67 average). Lindenwood found its stride in the second half with eight games in the 200's out of the final 12, including a season high of 277, posting the third highest total in the afternoon with 2,556 (213 average). With an overall total of 4,904 (204.33 average), the Lady Lions jumped from 13^th place all the way to sixth.

As the No. 6 seed, Lindenwood faced No. 11 seed Pikeville in the opening round Thursday afternoon. The Bears started quickly, but the Lady Lions stayed with them until a split in the ninth frame clinched the contest for Pikeville 246-204, but Lindenwood was not phased and came back to win the next three straight. After a close game two went the way of the Lady Lions with a late split from the Bears 201-183, Lindenwood used four-baggers in the next two to take a 3-1 lead (223-183; 212-179). Pikeville avoided elimination in game five, taking it 207-173 as the Lady Lions struggled in the opening four frames, but those struggles were short-lived as Lindenwood clinched the match with a clean game six 214-190.

With the victory, the Lady Lions immediately advanced to round two Thursday evening against No. 3 seed Maryville. The Saints had started qualifying slowly, but posted the highest second half total and were coming off a 4-3 win over No. 14 seed Mount Mercy. The match between Lindenwood and Maryville proved to be one of the highest scoring of the day with both teams averaging over 216 in it. The opening game set the tone, coming down to the final shots. The Saints made it to the 10^th frame first and their anchor struck out for 204, but the Lady Lions could still take the contest by matching Maryville. The Lindenwood anchor did just that with three straight strikes for a one-pin victory.

With great momentum from a breathtaking win, the Lady Lions continued their strong performance in game two, but the Saints were a bit better and evened the match with a 224-206 victory. Lindenwood was not phased and extended a streak of clean frames to 25 straight including a four-bagger to take control of game three 223-183 and take a 2-1 lead in the match. The final three games proved to be an offensive slug-fest. The Lady Lions started another streak of clean frames including a string of five strikes in a row, but the Saints kept pace and finished first with a score of 237. The Lindenwood anchor needed a double, but a 10-pin leave gave Maryville a 237-231 win and a 2-2 tie in the match. Game five proved to be a key game with both teams matching each other once again. As the Saints finished with 234, the Lady Lions set up the 10^th frame with a double, giving their anchor another chance at winning a game with a strike on the first ball. What looked like a perfect shot resulted in a smash 10-pin and a 237-231 victory for Maryville. Trailing 3-2, After starting with an open frame, Lindenwood bounced back with another five-bagger, but the Saints ultimately were too much for the Lady Lions as they bowled another game in the 230's. Averaging 236 for the final three games, Maryville closed out the match 237-210 and went on to make the championship finals.

Now facing elimination, Lindenwood faced No. 2 seed Louisiana Tech Friday morning. After being upset by No. 15 seed SCAD – Savannah in the opening round, the Lady Techsters bounced back with a 4-2 win over No. 10 seed Duquesne earlier Friday morning. Despite a great game, the Lady Lions were toppled 257-224 in game one. Lindenwood started slowly in game two, but a big 2-10 split conversion in the seventh frame gave the Lady Lions some momentum and they followed the big spare with three straight strikes, the third coming on the first ball of the 10^th. A seven-count and spare gave Lindenwood a come-from behind 210-208 win and a 1-1 tie.

The Lady Lions carried momentum into game three and easily earned a 228-176 victory, finishing with five straight strikes, but game four proved to be the turning point. Lindenwood started it with three single-pin misses out of four and never recovered, falling 192-150. With the match tied 2-2, Louisiana Tech took control from there and finished off the season for the Lady Lions 246-197 and 237-188.

The women's roster included freshman Hailey Bozych, sophomore Karsyn Braasch, sophomore Haylie Frick, senior Renata Martinez, freshman Carissa Merkle, freshman Liz Rittenour, sophomore Samantha Smith, and senior Maddie San Soucie.