PROVO -- Returning to the Smith Fieldhouse, the BYU women’s gymnastic team advanced to 9-2-2 after defeating the gymnasts of Texas Woman’s University Friday night with a season high score of 195.200 – 188.525.

“The girls have been getting better and improving each meet,” BYU head coach Brad Cattermole said. “We had a great night on beam and I thought vault was better than it ended up being scored. All in all, I like our direction and where we’re headed.”

In the first event for BYU, juniors Mickell Merrell and Natalie Eyre both posted scores of 9.800 in the vault. Haylee Rollins also added a score of 9.750 to BYU’s total vault score of 48.800. Brittany Johnson of TWU scored a team high of 9.700 on the Bars.

On the bars for BYU, both Madeleine Johnson and Rollins scored a 9.800. This event put the Cougars at a total score of 97.625 at the halfway point. Bethany Larimer received a score of 9.800 in the vault, adding to TWU’s current score of 95.650.

Scoring a season high on the beam, Eyre received a 9.800 along with teammate Jennifer Lezeu. With a beam score of 48.850, the Cougars advanced to an overall score of 146.475. TWU scored a 46.475 on the floor, putting them at a 142.125 final.

Next up for the Cougars was the floor exercise, the event that landed them the win for the night. Lezeu scored a 9.825 while Merrell contributed a score of 9.800. The Cougars added 48.725 for the floor score, totaling a final score of 195.200.

“We just wanted to do the best that we could,” said junior Jennifer Lezeu. “We just want to get better. That was our goal for today, just improving the little details. Its really motivating to have all your teammates behind you and cheering for you.”

Next up, the Cougars will travel to Fayetteville to face off with Arkansas on Friday, Feb 18.

PROVO -- Returning home, the BYU women’s gymnastics team (8-2-2) will try to bounce back from their first unsuccessful meet this season as they will face Texas Women’s University at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday.

“Every year you’ll have a meet where you don’t do your best,” BYU head coach Brad Cattermole said. “Ideally, you would still win that meet but we didn’t at LSU. I think having a meet like that may have been good for us though because no one wants that to happen again.”

The Cougars will look to rebound from their uncharacteristically low scoring performance at LSU last weekend. Their highest score in that meet came from Mickell Merrell who scored a 9.800 on vault.

The Pioneers come into the meet having experienced some success early on, coming into the meet with 8-2 record. TWU has recorded victories over Southeast Missouri State, Hamline, Winona and three victories over Centenary. Their two losses come against quality opponents, Denver and No. 3 Oklahoma. Despite the fact that the two teams come in with similar records, the Cougars season-low score is higher than the Pioneers season-high.

TWU sophomore Brittany Johnson won the all-around title in her last meet with a career-high 39.250. In the previous meets this season, BYU has not had a single gymnast compete in the all-around. However, several gymnasts specifically, Jennifer Lezeu, Natalie Eyre, Haylee Rollins and freshman Raquel Willman, are competing for the Cougars are three events and could potentially compete in a fourth event making them a legitimate all-around competitor.

“This should be a great meet,” Cattermole said. “The team is really excited to be back at home and we will look to improve our score.”

Tickets can be purchased online at byutickets.com or at the Marriott Center box office. They will also be available for purchase at the Smith Fieldhouse an hour prior to the start of the meet.

Anyone 5’2” tall or under will be admitted for $1 and anyone wearing pink to the meet will receive a free popcorn. The meet will not be televised.