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Illini Post Season-High Score in Narrow Loss to #15 Missouri
March 8, 2008
Champaign, Ill. - The Fighting Illini set or tied season-high scores on three events en route to their highest team score of the year, but #15 Missouri was still able to come away with a narrow victory by a score of 195.400-195.325 at Huff Hall Saturday afternoon. Freshman Allison Buckley highlighted the day for the Illini, tying the second best all-around score in program history of 39.375. "We did a lot better job on some detailed things today that we haven't done thus far," said Illinois head coach Bob Starkell. "195.000 has really been a hump that we couldn't get over this year. We know we are capable of performing at this level at any time and hopefully getting past that sticking point will help us feel more relaxed from here on out." The Illini started the meet off strong, tying season-high scores on both vault (49.000) and bars (48.925) to hold a 97.925-97.800 advantage following the first two rotations. On vault, sophomore Nicole Cowart took second with a season-best 9.850, while freshman Allison Buckley was just behind, tying for third with a 9.825. Junior Marijka Botterman returned the vault line-up after missing two meets due to injury and turned in an impressive 9.800. On bars, sophomore Sarah Schmidt won her second bars title of the season, tying Missouri's Adrianne Perry with a 9.850. Junior Julie Crall improved her career-high for the third consecutive week, posting a 9.825 to take third. In the third rotation, the Illini were forced to count a fall on beam and posted a 48.450 to fall out of the lead by .125. Crall led the way for the Illini, posting a 9.875 to capture her fifth title of the season on the event. Freshman Melissa Fernandez set a personal best on beam to tie teammate Buckley for third with a 9.850. The Illini made a push for the team title with a season-high 48.950 on floor, but Missouri's 48.900 on beam in their final rotation was enough to hold off the Illini. Buckley took home her fifth floor title of the season with a score of 9.900. Schmidt posted a career-best 9.825 on floor to take second, while junior Lindsey Smith took third with a 9.800. Buckley tied former Illini Kara Kapernekas' all-around score of 39.375 for the second best in Illini history to capture her third all-around title of the season. Former Illini Ashley Williams holds the record with her score of 39.475 back in 2004. Missouri's Adrianne Perry tied Buckley for first in the all-around with her own 39.375. "Allison is extremely competitive in nature and she is now really finding herself," Starkell said. "There should be more days like this out of her." Other top performances on the day were Buckley's 9.800 and Botterman's 9.775 on bars. The Illini will travel to Illinois-Chicago next Saturday, March 15, to take on the Flames at 5 p.m. at the UIC Physical Education Building. - ILLINI -
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