Six-tenths of a point was all it took to stop the NIU women’s gymnastics team from achieving its first-ever undefeated season.

In Friday’s Mississippi Valley Championships, host Southeast Missouri State managed to squeeze by the Huskies with a 190.15-189.55 triumph over the Huskies.

NIU’s second-place finish in the meet put the Huskies at 22-1 for the season.

NIU’s Martha Unger ended the regular season on the uneven parallel bars with a school record 9.90 that broke her old mark of 9.70. As a result, every record standing was made this season.

Unger was the only NIU event winner, while Vicki Thimgan took second in floor exercise (9.60) and the all-around competition (38.30). Sheryl Kurowski also had to settle for a runner-up position with a 9.65 on the balance beam.

Any loss is hard to swallow, but NIU’s defeat to SMSU was made even more difficult since the Huskies previously beat the Otahkians by 2.25 points in a January meet and 2.35 points just two weeks ago.

According to Unger, the loss to SMSU did not entirely result from their own performance but an inconsistent judging system.

“In my opinion it was an unfair contest,” Unger said. “Some scores were ridiculously high and some were absurdly low. Even my 9.9 on bars was too high. I maybe deserved a 9.7 or 9.75.

“We did have some mistakes, mistakes we half-way expected,” Unger added. “But it’s mostly unfair—our perfect season was ruined. The good thing about gymnastics though is that records aren’t really important, it’s the scores that matter.”

SMSU has not seen the last of NIU. Most likely, both teams will square off once again at the NCAA Central Regional Championships on April 6.

The rest of the competition, Winona State (183.20), Illinois-Chicago (180.20), and Valparaiso (175.90) were never even in the running.