NORMAL, Ill. – For the third time this season, Midwest Independent Conference foes Illinois State and Southeast Missouri State took to the mat on Saturday night in a Valentine's Day matchup at CEFCU Arena. The Redbirds led midway through the meet, but the RedHawks rallied to pick up a 194.150-192.475 win over the Redbirds on Senior Night.
Scoring Breakdown:
•   Southeast Missouri State: 194.150
•   Illinois State: 192.475
Thoughts From Coach Ringer:
"Tonight our big focus was to control what we could control. We looked at some of our deductions from last week and worked hard to get those down by almost a point. I'm interested in going back and looking to see where we are because I think we managed to do that. I think coming back to finish strong on floor after a rough beam rotation just shows how well they can move on from a mistake and focus on the next task. I was very pleased with the first two rotations on vault and bars, but we certainly have some things to work out on beam before our next meet. I was happy to see Madyson (Baucom) pick up the win on bars, because she can be hard on herself at times and for her to understand you can be proud of a performance even if it wasn't 100 percent clean. Then, for our seniors Leah (Davis) and Jaly (Jones) to each finish the meet with 9.8's to close things out was awesome for them, especially after the missteps on beam."
Team Notes:
•   Illinois State got off to a solid start to the meet, scoring 48.625 on vault to take an early lead on SEMO, which scored a 47.650 on bars to start meet. The score on vault was the second-highest for the Redbirds this season.
•   The Redbirds put together a score of 48.300 in rotation No. 2 on bars to take a small lead into the third rotation over the RedHawks, who scored a 48.725 on vault.
•   ISU had to count a pair of falls in rotation No. 3 on beam, as the Redbirds scored 46.875 to fall behind SEMO heading into the final rotation.
•   The Birds finished strong on the floor with a pair of individual scores of 9.800 to finish with a 48.675 to close out the meet.
Gymnast Notes:
•   Sammie Wolff and Savannah Ray tied for second place on vault with matching scores of 9.750, while Mia Oh tied for sixth place with her score of 9.725 … Jaly Jones, Baucom and Leah Davis rounded out the Top 10 finishes for the Redbirds with scores of 9.700.
•   Baucom took home the event win on bars, scoring 9.700 with teammates Jada Beswick and Jercy Koliego right behind in a tie for second place with scores of 9.675 … Ray (9.650) and Mia LeBlanc (9.600) rounded out a solid effort for the Redbirds in fifth and sixth places, respectively.
•   Jones was the top finisher on beam, as she scored a 9.700 to place fifth overall, while Courtney Woods was right behind in sixth place with a 9.650.
•   On floor, the Redbirds had a pair of scores of 9.800 from Jones and Davis as they tied for second place overall … Oh also picked up a Top 5 finish as she placed fifth with a score of 9.775.
Up Next:
Illinois State is back in action on Monday, February 23, when they host Northern Illinois inside Horton Field House for a dual meet set to begin at 6 p.m. CT.
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