The Arizona Women’s Billiards Tour held their last event of the 2014 season on November 15th - 16th at Bullshooters, and in addition to crowning a tournament winner, a tour points winner was yet to be crowned. While 2014 Points List winner Bernie Store held a decent sized lead on the points list, three players (Rebecca Wagner, Susan Williams and Sara Miller) were all within striking distance of the top spot.
The pool gods showed their mischievous side on this weekend as Store, Wagner Williams, Miller and Arizona newcomer Tina Hess were all on the same side of the board. Toss in former event winner Jaye Succo, Leandra Gaff and Vegas’ Ashea Erdahl and the bottom half of the bracket was a veritable minefield for any players hoping to advance. The marquee matches got going early on Saturday with Wagner defeating Store 7-5, Succo beating Hess 7-6 and Miller sending Williams to the left side 7-2.
Wagner would find herself on the one loss side one round later, after a 7-4 loss to road partner Erdahl. Meanwhile, Miller was sending Succo west to fight it out on the one loss side.
A couple of big surprises on Saturday were the eliminations of Susan Williams and Amanda Pulley. Williams won three straight on the one loss side, before dropping a 7-4 match to Store. Pulley held a sizable lead over Barbara Lee on the winners side but couldn’t get over the finish line and dropped the match 7-6. Pulley then lost to Store in her first match on the one loss side 7-4.
Sunday play got underway with four players left on each side of the board. Tucson’s Tracie Hamman handed Barbara Lee her first loss 7-4, and Ashea Erdahl sent Sara Miller to the one loss side 7-5. The next round would see Erdahl take the hot-seat with a 7-2 win over Hamman.
Bernie Store guaranteed herself the points list win with a 7-4 win over Susan Williams in her first match on Sunday. That would be as far as Store would get though, as she lost her next match to Sara Miller 7-4. Rebecca Wagner also sent Barbara Lee back to California in 5th place with a quick 7-2 scoreline. Wagner didn’t stop there as she next eliminated Miller 7-3 to earn her spot in the semi-finals.
The semi-final match would turn out to be a heartbreaker for Hamman as she held leads at 4-1 and 6-5 but missed the case nine ball at hill-hill and couldn’t stop Wagner from winning the final game.
The finals were an “all Vegas” affair between Wagner and Erdahl. Although the scoreline made it look close, Wagner was never really in any danger of losing the match and faded a late comeback from Erdahl for the 9-6 win and her third title of the season. Wagner ended up 5 points behind Store on the points list, quite an amazing feat considering she played in two less events than anyone else in the top four.
The second chance tournament on Sunday saw Amanda Pulley bounce back from a hot-seat loss to Beth Orth and exact her revenge in the finals for first place.
Assistant Tour director Tres Kane gave his thanks to Mike and Julie Bates, and the staff of Bullshooters for hosting and adding $300 to the main event and $100 to the second chance event, Jose Gonzales of Las Glorias Grille for adding $100 to the main event and his partner Kristie Ortega for running another fine event.
