Delaware State University head bowling coach and touring professional Kim Terrell-Kearney won her second U.S. Women’s Open championship Aug. 6, beating Trisha Reid, 216-189, in the championship match of the U.S. Bowling Congress’ major event.

    Terrell-Kearney, who also won the 2001 Open championship, built an early lead and held on to win her third career major title. She earned $25,000 for the victory, which will be featured on a tape-delayed basis by ESPN for five consecutive weeks, beginning at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7.

    In the championship match, she struck on four of her first five shots to take a 24-pin lead at the halfway point, while her opponent mustered just three strikes in the entire game.

    “It’s been a great week and it’s really satisfying to reach my goal of 10 career titles,” Terrell-Kearney said. “Winning the Open is the pinnacle of most bowlers’ careers and to win it twice is amazing.”

    The match was significant in that it marked the first meeting of black athletes for a professional title in the history of bowling.

    Only a handful of black women, including Terrell-Kearney, and one black male have won professional bowling titles, and though she wasn’t sure, the Hornet coach had a feeling history was being made.

    “I had a feeling it was the first time something like this had happened,” she said. “I’ve had footsteps to follow in, and hopefully I’m providing inspiration for other African Americans out there to pursue their goals in bowling.”

    Terrell-Kearney narrowly advanced to the championship match with a 216-202 victory over USBC Hall of Famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of North Richland Hills, Texas. In the dramatic finish, Dorin-Ballard missed a 10 pin in the final frame to open the door for Terrell-Kearney, who earlier in the match missed a 10 pin of her own.

    “I knew I couldn’t make mistakes against Carolyn, and I feared that miss would cost me even though it happened early in the match,” said Terrell-Kearney, who struck her first ball in the final frame to advance. “It took me a minute to regain my composure after that, but thankfully I did. I was just hoping for an opportunity in the 10th frame and it happened.”

    The tournament began with 184 competitors, with Terrell-Kearney seeded No. 12 in the final 16.

    In her first season at Delaware State, the coach led the Hornets to an 84-47 overall record and No. 11 ranking in the final National Tenpin Coaches Association regular season poll during the 2007-2008 campaign.

    DSU was runner-up to eventual NCAA Champion Maryland-Eastern Shore in the 2008 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament, the highest finish in the nine-year history of the team.