Southern Utah posted a home-record 193.150, the second-best score in school history, but fifth-ranked Brigham Young responded with a school-record 195.725 to take a victory in women's gymnastics Monday night.
The Cougars (8-4) opened on bars with a 49.225, the second-best mark in BYU history, and never looked back, sweeping the top three all-around spots behind the work of Cristen Cosgrave (38.975), Liz Crandall (38.775) and Angela Anderson (38.725). SUU's Stacy Cather finished fourth, at 38.575.A freak twist of fate cost Cather the all-around title, however, as her grip came loose during her bar routine, forcing her to dismount, regrip and remount. The dismount, which counts as a fall, cost her a 0.5 scoring deduction.
"That fall cost Stacy the all-around title," SUU coach Scott Bauman pointed out. "Had that not happened, she would have scored a 39.075, but she still had a great meet."
Cather broke SUU's school floor record with a 9.90 to win that event, while Crandall had a 9.95 to win beam, Kelli Rose and Anderson shared bars honors with 9.875 scores and SUU's Dawn Kisselburgh had a 9.825 to win vault.
"This was a very good meet for both teams," said Bauman. "This wasn't our best meet - we had some wobbles on vault and some falls on bars and beam, but we came back on floor (SUU posted a school-record 48.850 team mark on floor) and wound up posting a score that'll help us in our quest to qualify for (the NCAA Midwest Regional Meet).
"BYU showed everyone here why they're the fifth-ranked team in the country," Bauman added. "They started fast and never slowed down."
"I'm pleased with our performance," BYU coach Brad Cattermole said. "We had a fall or two that hurt us, but overall, the kids did very well tonight."
The Thunderbirds are now 4-5.