SPOKANE, Wash. – Some bowlers watch the leaderboard very closely throughout competition while others go out of their way to ignore it altogether.

Erin McCarthy of Elkhorn, Nebraska, falls somewhere in the middle, and because of that, she knew that she was in contention for the lead as she stepped up to bowl the 10th frame of her final game of Round 2 qualifying at Lilac Lanes & Casino on Friday night. 

However, since she didn’t know exactly how many pins she needed in order to claim the top spot, McCarthy just went ahead and struck out, and that allowed her to hold off a late charge by Jordan Richard of Maumee, Ohio, and finish in first place after Day 1 of qualifying at the 2023 Professional Women’s Bowling Association GoBowling! Spokane Open.

McCarthy, a two-time PWBA titlist and the defending U.S. Women’s Open champion, finished the day atop the 78-player field by putting up a 12-game total of 2,692 (a 224.33 average), which included four games above 250 (265, 252, 278 and 268).

The 32-year-old right-hander felt that the day could have gone a bit more smoothly; nevertheless, she was pleased to find herself in first place at the midway point of the tournament.

“It was kind of a rollercoaster day for me. I had two good games in the morning and two good games tonight, and the rest was just sort of coasting if you want to call it that,” McCarthy said. “Still, I saw a shape that I was comfortable with today, and that put me in my wheelhouse and allowed me to enjoy both blocks. It was a good day.”

Any day spent atop the standings in PWBA competition is a good day; nevertheless, McCarthy knows that it takes more than a couple of good rounds to bring home a title. As such, she’ll have to be equally sharp on Saturday if she hopes to keep the momentum going.

“Being at the top and having that little bit of cushion sort of eases your mindset a little bit, but obviously you still want to make good shots and try to extend that lead if possible because there’s still a lot of games left,” McCarthy said.

That outlook seems wise as McCarthy’s lead is small, and there are several big names lurking close behind.

Richard sits in second place just 12 pins back after putting up a Day 1 total of 2,680. Fellow Team USA member Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona, is third at 2,669.

PWBA Tour rookie Hope Gramly of Aubrey, Texas, who qualified for the TV finals at last year’s United States Bowling Congress Queens as an amateur, was fourth with 2,649 while five-time titlist Dasha Kovalova of Muskegon, Michigan, grabbed the final spot in Friday’s top five at 2,634.

Additionally, 2022 PWBA Player of the Year Shannon O’Keefe of Shiloh, Illinois (2,615), was sixth, last week’s season-opening PWBA Stockton Open champion Cherie Tan of Singapore (2,571) was 11th and USBC Hall of Famer and 25-time titlist Liz Johnson of Niagara Falls, New York (2,530), was 15th. 

The 78-player field was cut to the top 26 players after Friday night’s second round, and Gazmine Mason of Cranston, Rhode Island; Hui Fen New of Singapore and Lilia Robles of Mexico finished in a three-way tie for the final advancing spot with a 12-game total of 2,458, an average of 204.83.

Despite missing the cut by two pins at 2,456, Lauren Pate of Ballwin, Missouri, thrilled the crowd at Lilac Lanes & Casino by recording the first 300 game of the 2023 PWBA season, which came during Game 4 of Round 2.

Saturday’s third round will consist of an additional six games starting at noon Eastern. Then, the top 12 players will return at 5 p.m. Eastern for a fourth and final six-game round to complete qualifying, after which the top five players, based on total pinfall for 24 games, will advance to the stepladder finals.

The stepladder will be Saturday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern and will be broadcast live at BowlTV.com. The champion will earn $20,000.