University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Illinois
Gophers Fall to Illini on the Road
2/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.- No. 25 Minnesota dropped its second road contest and third competition of the season on Saturday evening as the No. 14 Illini outscored the Gophers, 195.775-195.375. Minnesota won three of the four team titles and three individual event titles. The road decision drops the Maroon and Gold to 3-3 on the season and a 2-2 mark in Big Ten competition.
Junior Lindsay Mable led the field during the competition, posting an all-around score of 39.575 to tie her season-high score in the all-around competition and securing her sixth consecutive all-around crown. Mable earned three individual event titles on the evening as she scored a 9.900 on vault, 9.875 on floor exercise and 9.925 on balance beam. In each of the past three meets, Mable has won the floor exercise event title and has 14 individual event titles overall this season.
To kick off their third conference road test of the season, the Maroon and Gold competed on the uneven bars. Mable earned the highest score for Minnesota on the apparatus, totaling a 9.875, good enough to tie for third place with Illinois' Sarah Lyons. Bailie Holst and Jenny Covers rounded out the top three Minnesota scores earning a 9.750 each.
The Gophers' second rotation on vault proved to be the best event of the evening for the Maroon and Gold. Minnesota earned the top two individual spots with Mable and Covers earning a 9.900 and 9.875 respectively. With strong scores from Cierra Tomson and Ciara Gardner, the Gophers recorded a team event score of 49,025, their highest of the evening to earn the team event title.
During the third rotation, Minnesota tallied a 48.900 on floor behind Mable's 9.875. Tomson was not far behind Mable's score tallying a 9.825 in her second floor showing of the season. Minnesota was able to earn one of its team event titles on the evening by just one tenth of a point as they inched past Illinois, 48.900-48.800.
Minnesota wrapped up the competition on balance beam where Mable tied her season-high 9.925. Covers earned the second highest Minnesota score posting a 9.850. The Gophers secured their third team event titles by outscoring the Illini, 48.900-48.650 on the event.
The competition marked the first time freshman Ciara Gardner has competed on each of the four events. She tallied a 38.475 while Covers earned a 39.175 in the all-around competition.
Next Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015, the Gophers will host Nebraska at the Sports Pavilion for their annual Pink Meet. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to raise awareness for breast cancer. The meet is set to begin at 6 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on BTN Plus. To read the latest news around Gopher women's gymnastics, follow @GopherWGym on Twitter or use the hashtag #AlwaysGolden.
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