Safety in numbers, small numbers, will concern the women's gymnastics team as it takes on the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indians and the North Carolina Tar Heels at 8 tonight in Rec Hall.

"I'm looking for consistency, and obviously very high on my list of priorities is safety right now," Coach Judi Avener said.

The Lady Lions will be without two of their top all-around performers tonight - senior Kathy Parody and sophomore Lynn Crane, both of whom went down with injuries at last week's Purina Cat Classic.

Parody is out for the season and heading for surgery with a ripped Achilles tendon, which she suffered on her floor exercise routine last Friday. Crane, who finished second in the all-around competition on Friday with a career-best score of 37.85, suffered a bruised heel on Saturday as she landed short while performing a double-back on her floor routine. Crane, however, could return to competition by next week.

The meet should prove to be a competitive one with the injuries to Penn State, the experienced and talented team of North Carolina, and the fact that IUP is the defending NCAA Region II champion.

"With our weakened line-up, the state that we're in right at this point without Parody and Crane, either one of those teams could come in and beat us," Avener said. "We've got our hands full this weekend."

Quite possibly one of the Lady Lions' best assets will be their unity.

"We're all bonding really quick," Crane said. "Everyone's just pulling for each other."

"We're going to really use our unity and closeness to pull us through this meet," sophomore Kira Rohm said.

Perhaps the team might need just a little more than team unity -- many of the gymnasts need to come through and pick up the extra load. Much of that load will have to be carried by senior captain Debbie O'Brien, junior Carrie Arnesen, and sophomores Paula Bright and Rohm.

The most pressure, however, will fall on the freshmen: Janice Rogers, Kim Thrasher and Jada Hiltabrand. All three, along with O'Brien, will compete in the all-around. Thrasher has been in the all-around all season, while Rogers will compete in the all-around for the first time this season and Hiltabrand her second.

"The freshmen are going to have to pick up the slack. They're going to have to come through," Avener said.

All three of the freshmen have put in impressive scores this season, though, and the team is confident in them.

"They've been right there when we've needed them. I think they'll do great," O'Brien said. "That's one of our strong points, and that's what might save us."