JONESBORO, Ark. (4/3/25) – Kaylee Back was named the Conference USA Newcomer of the Year to highlight four Arkansas State women’s bowling student-athletes to earn honors for the 2024-25 season, the league office announced Thursday.

Joining Back among the CUSA honorees, Maggie Thoma was named to the All-CUSA Second Team, Karli VanDuinen was named to the All-CUSA Third Team and Amanda Lang was named to the All-Rookie Team. Conference USA boasts seven of eight at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament this season and all 10 teams ranked in the latest NTCA Top 25 Poll.

A transfer from Oklahoma Christian, Back finished the regular season with five top 10 individual finishes across nine tournaments. Over the first three events of the season, Back finished inside the top 10, including MVP honors at the Destination Orlando event. For the season, she finished 17th nationally with a player composite performance index (PCPI) of 91.244 percent. She carried an overall average of 207.9, 206.3 in traditional games and 208.9 in Baker games. In 50 traditional games bowled, Back had 26 tallying 200 or more pins, including a high game of 279.

Thoma ranked 13th in the final regular season statistics with a PCPI of 91.689 percent. She carried the fourth-highest overall average among qualified bowlers at 211.3. Rolling a Baker average of 214.4, Thoma ranked fourth and she carried a traditional average of 205.6. Thoma rolled 36 traditional games and downed 200-plus pins in 21 with a high game of 267.

A-State’s anchor bowler, VanDuinen ranked 18th in the PCPI at 91.175 percent. She posted an overall average of 207.8, 209.5 in traditional games and 206.7 in Baker. She ranked fifth in traditional game strike percentage at 56 percent. VanDuinen led the team with 29 traditional games of 200-plus pins, including a high of 258. She finished 25th or better in eight of nine tournaments, including a high of third at the Track Kat Klash.

Lang completed 685 total frames as a freshman and averaged 19.89 pins, third-highest on the team. She posted the second-highest fill percentage among A-State bowlers at 86.5 percent. Rolling 31 traditional games, Lang averaged 199.8 and downed 200-plus pins in 12 games. She finished sixth individually at the Mid-Winter Invitational and rolled a season-best game of 276 at the event.

Ranked sixth in the latest national rankings, A-State is set for its 17th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance beginning Friday against No. 10 Maryville at the Pittsburgh Regional. Live streaming coverage is available on BOWL TV.
 

2025 CUSA Bowling Superlatives, All-Conference & All-Rookie Team 
Bowler of the Year: Annalise OBryant, Jax State
Freshman of the Year: Erin Klemencic, Jax State
Newcomer of the Year: Kaylee Back, Arkansas State
Coach of the Year: Holly Harris, Wichita State 

All-CUSA First Team
Jade Cote, Youngstown State
Annalise OBryant, Jax State
Erin Klemencic, Jax State
Ashtyn Woods, Wichita State
Sara Duque, Wichita State 

All-CUSA Second Team
Maggie Thoma, Arkansas State
Dannielle Henderson, Jax State
Madyson Marx, Youngstown State
Isabel Allen, Vanderbilt
Mary Orf, Wichita State 

All-CUSA Third Team
Anna Warkel, Jax State
Karli VanDuinen, Arkansas State
Brystal Beyer, SFA
Victoria Varano, Vanderbilt
Paige Wagner, Wichita State

All-Rookie Team
Erin Klemencic, Jax State
Keira Magsam, Jax State
Sydney Bohn, Vanderbilt
Melia Mitskavich, Jax State
Amanda Lang, Arkansas State