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BOISE — Southern Utah scored a pair of 49s over the final two rotations but was unable to come from behind as the Thunderbirds scored a 194.650 to Boise State's 195.925 to suffer a defeat on the road on Friday night. Despite the loss, Southern Utah's final score marked the third highest total for the team this season.

The Thunderbirds began on bars, scoring a 48.350, and were headlined by a pair of 9.800's tallied by Michaela Chernoch and Alyssa Click. Click finished with a team-best 9.850 to finish third overall on the event as the Broncos finished their first rotation with a 48.975 on vault.

Lindsey Schultz recorded another 9.800 for Southern Utah during the next rotation, leading the Thunderbirds on the vault as the team finished with a 48.100. Schultz finished third on the apparatus with the mark, but it was BSU's meet-high 49.225 on the uneven bars that extended the lead 98.200 to Southern Utah's 96.450.

The T-Birds then began to chip into the Bronco advantage by out scoring Boise State over the final two rotations. Southern Utah began the third rotation on floor, scoring a 49.175 behind five marks all above a 9.800. Coughlin led the way with a 9.875, tying for first place on the event and was followed by Schultz (9.850), Ari Lamb (9.825), Chernoch (9.825) and Lauren Jeffrey with a 9.800.

Lamb, Caitlin Kennedy and Click finished second through fourth on the balance beam as the Thunderbirds finished their final rotation with a 49.025. Each scored over a 9.800 as Lamb recorded a 9.875, Kennedy a 9.850 and Click a 9.800. A pair of 9.750's by Chernoch and Coughlin rounded out the team score as the T-Birds finished the night with a 194.650.

Ari Lamb and Lauren Jeffrey finished second and third in the all-around, scoring a 38.800 and 37.850, respectively.

Southern Utah will wrap up its regular season with a pair of home meets next week, hosting Auburn and BYU on Monday night, and Iowa and Utah State Saturday afternoon.

AGGIES TOP TITANS: at Logan, on Senior Night for Utah State gymnastics, it was USU's two seniors, Lyndsie Boone and Jackie Dillon, who shone bright in each posting career-high all-around scores to lead the Aggies to their season high team total and first Western Athletic Conference win of the season with a 194.550-190.700 victory over Cal State Fullerton Friday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

The 194.550 was the Aggies' highest score since a 195.175 at the 2007 WAC Championships and the highest regular-season score since a 194.675 earlier in the 2007 season. Friday was USU's first WAC win since March 7, 2008 vs. San Jose State. With the win, USU improves to 2-12 overall and 1-4 in WAC competition while CSF slid to 0-6 overall and 0-4 in WAC action.

Dillon won the all-around with a career-high 39.150 while Boone was second with a 38.975, also a career-best. The senior duo shared the spotlight and matched each other all night, as they made up half of a four-way tie on bars with a 9.825, a new career-high for Boone and a career-best tying score for Dillon. The pair also tied each other for second on vault and for third on beam, both with 9.750's. They were knotted even in the all-around with a 29.325 each before Dillon notched her winning score of 9.825 while Boone tied for sixth with a 9.650.

Freshman Rachel Vaske was fifth in the all-around and joined in on the career-best scoring outing, with a 38.625, her second career-high posting in the last three meets. Those were three of the nine career-high scores posted by the Aggies Friday night, as USU collected three event titles plus the all-around crown. It was Utah State's second meet this season with three event winners, but the first of the year with a total of four titles counting the all-around.

Junior Nicole Simoneau won the bars title, her seventh win in the event in USU's 10 meets this season, with a 9.850, her 33rd score of at least a 9.800 in 38 career meets and her 20th score of a 9.850 or higher in her career. Simoneau wasn't the only Aggie to have a good night on bars, as Boone and freshman Rachel Vaske posted career-highs while Dillon tied her career-best on bars, all posting 9.825's, to tie for second in a four-way logjam with the Titans' Taylor Kearns.

Freshman Cammi Muhr won the beam with a career-best tying 9.800, the same score that she posted on floor to tie for not only her career-high but also for second overall, joined by fellow freshman Paige Jones.

Junior Amelia Montoya competed for the first time since Feb. 11, missing the last three meets with an injury, but didn't miss a beat, posting a career-high 9.750 on floor to tie for fourth.

Cal State Fullerton's Alaina Baker won the vault title with a 9.775, just edging out Boone and Dillon, who tied for second by each posting a 9.750. Dillon and Boone also tied each other on beam, both logging 9.750's to tie for third. After three events, both were tied in the all-around with a 29.325

USU opened on vault, with Holliday leading off in the very event that she suffered a minor injury during warm-ups last week and missed last Friday and Sunday's meet. Holliday showed little signs of the injury in notching a 9.475. After an 8.650 by Muhr, Vaske notched a 9.500. Jones then posted a 9.625, before Boone and Dillon each registered 9.750's. Dillon's 9.750 was just shy of her season-best 9.775. The Aggies totalled a 48.100 on vault while the Titans tallied a 47.500, and Utah State had the lead after one rotation.

Moving to bars for rotation two, Vaske led off with a career-high 9.825. Boone then matched Vaske in not only the score, but also in posting a career-high, bettering her previous career-best of 9.750 from her sophomore season of 2009, which was also in a home dual against Cal State Fullerton. Jones then tallied a 9.175, preceding a 9.675 by Holliday. Dillon then joined Vaske and Boone in the 9.825 posting, tying her career-high along the way. Simoneau then closed out the rotation with a her winning 9.850.

The Aggies registered a season-best 49.000 on bars, while the Titans totalled a 47.975 on vault and USU had a 97.100-95.475 lead at the meet's midway point.

On beam for rotation three, Boone opened with a season-high 9.750, followed by a 9.675 by Vaske, then a season-best tying 9.800 by Muhr. Holliday then scored a 8.325, before Dillon notched a 9.750 and Simoneau completed the beam lineup with a 9.650.

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USU posted a season-high on beam for the third meet in a row, registering a 48.625. Cal State Fullerton posted a 47.700 on floor and with three rotations in the books, the Aggies had a 145.725-143.175 lead.

Utah State closed out its final home meet on floor, with Vaske leading off with a 9.625. Muhr notched a career-high tying 9.800, preceding Montoya, who competed for the first time since Feb. 11, missing the last three meets with an injury, but didn't miss a beat, posting a career-high 9.750. Boone then posted a 9.650, giving her a career-high 38.975 all-around score. Jones then scored a 9.800 before Dillon completed not only the Aggies' action of the night, but her final performance at home and logged her winning score of 9.825.

Utah State concludes regular-season action on Saturday, March 12 in a tri-meet at Southern Utah along with Iowa. Action at SUU's Centrum starts at 2 p.m. (MT). The tri-meet will have special meaning for USU head coach Jeff Richards, as he was an assistant at both SUU and Iowa, coaching at Southern Utah from 1991-98, earning his degree from SUU in 1995, and was an assistant coach at Iowa from 2005-2008, before coming to Utah State.

USU will then compete in the WAC Gymnastics Championships on Saturday, March 19 at the San Jose Event Center in San Jose, Calif., hosted by San Jose State.

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