PROVO -- The BYU women’s gymnastics team fell to 8-2-2 on the season after losing to No. 24 LSU, 195.875-193.750 in Baton Rouge on Friday. The Tigers posted their season-high while Cougars recorded their lowest score of the season.

Mickell Merrell led the way for the Cougars scoring a 9.800 on vault to tie for the event title. Merrell who did not compete on vault last season for BYU has performed impressively on the event thus far this season.

One positive for the Cougars in the meet was the impressive rebound from last week’s poor vault performance to this week where the event was the team’s highest score of the night with a combined 48.675. Meanwhile, the team’s lowest score of the night came on one of their usual strengths, the floor exercise.

Jennifer Lezeu posted a team-high 9.775 on the beam. LSU’s performance was a tough one to overcome as two Tigers passed the 9.900 mark as LSU won or tied every event outright.

BYU will be back in action next week as they host Texas Women’s at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse on Feb. 11th.

The BYU women’s gymnastics team (8-1-2) will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana this weekend to take on the LSU Tigers in the Maravich center at 7 p.m. on Friday.

“LSU is an easy place to compete,” Cougar head coach Brad Cattermole said. “They’re fun people and we enjoy going there. We’re looking forward to this meet and I’m looking for us to put four events together in order to get the score we’re capable of getting.”

BYU is quickly becoming a national threat with three wins over ranked opponents beating Denver, Arizona and Southern Utah. The Cougars have also tied with Kent State and Iowa State, both of which are ranked in the top 25 nationally. BYU is currently averaging a team score of 194.000 while their season high is currently 194.925, which came in their first home meet of the season last Saturday.

LSU has experienced a disappointing start to their season, posting a 1-5 record in their first four meets after receiving a No. 12 preseason ranking. However, the team has faced tough competition including No. 1 ranked Florida. This will be the Cougars first duel meet of the season. LSU is a young team led by freshmen Sarie Morrison and Kaleigh Dickson.

Despite losing four high-scoring seniors last season, several gymnasts have stepped up for BYU and made a significant impact already this season. Gymnasts to watch for the Cougars include Jennifer Lezeu, Natalie Eyre and Haylee Rollins.

Live stats will be available at www.lsusports.net while live video will also be available for purchase on the LSU website.