Cindy Hudson and Charleane Keller went to Las Vegas and brought back more than a T-shirt. The Natchez bowling pair will split $1,900 after placing eighth in the 2000 Bowling Proprietors Association of America (BPAA) Tequila Rose Doubles Bowling Tournament held last month at the Orleans Bowling Center Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The pair finished with a final score of 5,477, including handicap. Through three games, the two ladies combined for a 3,701 scratch series. Hudson’s best scratch game was 234, while Keller’s best scratch game was 172.

&uot;We were pleased with how we bowled,&uot; Hudson said.

Hudson and Keller qualified for the tournament after winning the Tequila Rose Alabama-Mississippi Bowling Tournament in Pearl in February.

Chom Kim and Hyong Yi, representing North Carolina, won the championship. The Spring Lake pair defeated Valerie See and Jack Hammon, of Wichita, Kan., 515-448 in the title match to win the $10,000 top prize.

Keller and Hudson were one of only three teams with both team members being female. Most were co-ed teams.

Keller, who has been bowling for two years, said it was almost a repeat of the qualifying tournament. &uot;Cindy held us up in the morning and I held us up in the afternoon,&uot; she said. &uot;Both of us bowled well on Sunday.&uot;

Doubles teams representing 28 states competed in the event

Nearly 4,000 bowlers competed in bowling centers nationwide to qualify for their state finals. The state champions who competed here won expense paid trips to Las Vegas to roll for $62,500 in prize money. The tournament was the first national tournament for both ladies.

&uot;I was kind of nervous at first, watching everybody else, but once I started bowling I chilled out.&uot;

&uot;My first two practice balls went in the gutter, but I did fine after that,&uot; Keller said. &uot;We realized that the people there were just like us from ‘Littletown’, USA.&uot;

Hudson and Keller said they had to adjust to bowling in an alley with 70 lanes.

&uot;It was a bit overwhelming,&uot; Hudson said.

&uot;They had synthetic lanes and they were very oily,&uot; Keller added. &uot;You didn’t have to throw your ball hard. You just threw your ball straight.&uot;

Hudson, who has been bowling for eight years, said friends from Natchez who came to cheer them on kept the ladies updated on their scores.

&uot;Dianne (Kirby) was keeping score and she kept telling us we were doing fine,&uot; Hudson said.

Hudson said consistency was the key to finishing in the top 10. &uot;We were eighth, moved up to seventh and them stayed in eighth,&uot; she said.

The ladies said they toured Hoover Dam and saw a few sights.

&uot;All the activities were at the hotel,&uot; Keller said. &uot;We went out on the Strip once, but it was so crowded we decided to go back to the hotel. We spent a lot of time at the bowling alley.&uot;

The bowling partners said they are anxious to compete for next year’s tournament.

&uot;We’re looking all the time for tournaments to go to now,&uot; Hudson said. &uot;We want to get more involved in more tournaments.&uot;