Gymnastics may have beaten the reigning MAC champs, but now it has to take down the best team in the MAC.

The Huskies (2-1, 2-0 MAC) will take on No. 25 Kent State (5-1, 2-0 MAC) at 6 p.m. Friday in Kent, Ohio. Both teams are coming off wins against Western Michigan. The Huskies beat WMU 192.45-191.6 Saturday. The Kent State Golden Flashes beat Western Michigan 194.025-192.1 Jan. 24.

Kent State will give NIU its biggest challenge since No. 8 Nebraska. The Golden Flashes have long been the dominant team in the MAC and have consistently earned trips to NCAA regionals. This season, Kent State is averaging a score of 194.656. Its only loss came at the hands of Rutgers, 195.25-194.745, during a four-team meet.

Junior Amanda Stepp isn’t concerned with taking on one of the best teams in the MAC.

“I think it motivates us more because they’ve always been at the top,” Stepp said. “So, we want to be the team that beats them and changes that.

“They have a big crowd and the environment is really loud and exciting. I think it helps us more than anything because then we’re more motivated.”

While the Huskies have struggled on the road in the past, junior Kelly Nortz isn’t looking at the meet as a road matchup.

“I’m actually pumped because I’m from Ohio, an hour from Kent,” Nortz said. “I’m gonna have a bunch of family there and old teammates from my gym. I think it will definitely pump me up.”

The Golden Flashes are led by Marie Case, who performs all-around. Case has the highest all-around score in the MAC this season with a 39.375, which she earned against NC State Jan. 19. Against Western Michigan, her all-around was a 39.15.

NIU will have to put up its highest score of the season if it wants to remain undefeated in MAC play.

The Huskies are coming off their strongest performance of the season against Western Michigan. Their strongest performances were on vault, floor and beam. While they’ve been good on bars previously, the struggles against WMU could cause worries.

Head coach Sam Morreale has the team working on the smaller things in its routines.

“We’re getting back to basics, just focusing on the details,” Morreale said. “It’s more of a detail work week. We’re not really loading lots of numbers on, so we’re just trying to clean up some of the little mistakes.”

For the Huskies, the goal remains the same. They haven’t achieved a team score of 194 yet, but that’s what they’ll need to beat Kent State. Morreale wants that score from NIU, win or lose.

“In order to compete in the meet with them, we’re going to have to score 194 or better,” Morreale said. “Any time we come out and improve scores it’s a victory for us, but based on the fact that we’ve been stuck on the 192, to bump up to 194 that would [be] a [great thing]…. We go 194, they go 195 and we lose, we know where we’re at, we know we’ve got to get a little better, but at least we’ve made that step.”