Costly Falls Lead to Cougar Loss

PROVO, Utah –The BYU women’s gymnastics team fought hard, but eventually lost to No. 17 Denver 193.750 to 191.850 at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday night.

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BYU started the night on vault where Jordan Schult set a career high with a score of 9.800. Teammate Natalie Eyre Pickard had the team-high score on the vault with 9.825 helping the Cougars take an early 48.800 to 48.600 over the Pioneers.

Eyre-Pickard excelled on the bars with a second consecutive score of 9.825. KayCee Gassaway, back from injury for the first time in several weeks, scored a 9.625, but is was not enough for the Cougars to keep the lead. Moriah Martin of Denver scored a 9.900 in the rotation, helping the Pioneers to a 97.575 to 97.475 lead over BYU.

The beam proved to be the most difficult rotation for the Cougars who battled but continued to give up ground to the Pioneers. Both Krysten Koval and Raquel Willman received scores of 9.725, pushing BYU’s score to 144.800. After the Pioneers’ rotation on the floor, their team score increased to 146.225. The Cougars struggled with falls on the beam, which would continue onto the floor.

The final rotation for BYU was the floor where Mickell Merrell led the way. Merrell scored a team-high 9.725 with a solid routine.

“It’s just one meet,” BYU head coach Brad Cattermole explained. “That’s all it is. We had a meet like this early in the season and we came back and did much better. We are capable of much better we just have to do it. Every once and awhile you have a bad week and this was a bad week.”

The Cougars will head to Tucson, competing Friday, February 17th at 7 p.m. against the University of Arizona.