Starting off ominously with a slip-up in vault and three falls on the bars, NIU gymnastics came back to challenge but lost to New Hampshire.

With the mishaps on the first two events, the Huskies seemed primed to fall way behind, but came back to post their highest score on balance beam of the season with an overall 48.150 and a respectable 48.475 on floor to make the scoring close, losing 193.200-191.875.

NIU was paced by senior Ashley Guerra and sophomore Megan Melendez posting her career best on beam, scoring 9.675 and 9.775 respectably. Guerra also posted the highest score of the event on bars with a score of 9.800.

“I kind of had a lot of pressure on me,” Guerra said. “I knew I had to do it for my team. I’ve been working hard in the gym on my consistency.”

Despite the season high score on beam and some bright individual performances, NIU coach Sam Morreale is still looking for more overall.

“We still have a ways to go with landing,” Morreale said. “First we have to hit the routine; if we’re falling we’re talking five tenths deduction.”

New Hampshire scored 48 and above on all four events and was paced by senior Ali Carr, who tied for first on bars with Guerra and second on floor with a 9.775

“We have a good balance all the way through,” said New Hampshire coach Gail Goodspeed. “Right now, our senior class is doing a great job for us.”

Although the overall score is the second best on the season, Guerra believes the Huskies have nowhere to go but up.

“This week was a little pitfall for us,” said Guerra. “We can do way better than this and we just have to learn from this experience. Being a senior I know the right track of where I need to take my team to.”