Women's Gymnastics Coach Steve Shephard called upon one of coaching's oldest philosophies to explain his team's third-place finish in Saturday's quad-meet.

"(The team was) inconsistent in practice this week and it showed in the meet," Shephard said. "We need to step up the intensity in practice."

The Lady Lions -- in front of a nearly-full Rec Hall crowd --slipped to 1-3 on the young season, falling to meet-winner New Hampshire (6-0) by a 189.675-187.775 score. The Mountaineers of West Virginia (3-2) also played the part of ungrateful visitor, finishing second in the Lady Lions' den with a 188.375 total. Penn State was able to pick up a conference victory over the Golden Gophers of Minnesota (3-3,0-1), who never could burrow above ground Saturday night, ringing up just 183.85 points.

The night started off well for the Lady Lions -- who led after vault and bars -- but it quickly soured when they fell into third-place after falls by April Polito and Tracy Kerner on the beam.

After the Wildcats captured the lead, they started really acting like "wild cats," cheering and holding hands as their teammates competed on their final event, the uneven bars. The cheers grew louder when the 'Cats were announced as winners, and continued as they shouted "U-N-H" while boarding their van in the Rec Hall parking lot.

Although Shephard said he was "a little disappointed," with his team's performance, he said he was happy the Lady Lions came out injury-free, that they did well on vault and that senior co-captain Coby Silver had a strong performance. Silver, who finished fourth in the vault, said the team is always more important than personal performance.

"I had a good night," Silver said on the night before her birthday, "but nothing compares to (how the team does)."

Lady Lion sophomore Bridget Foley said her team may have suffered from a case of nerves, trying to live up to the high standard they set in their opening-meet performance against Georgia.

"I think we let our nerves get to us a little," Foley said, "but it's the beginning of the season, and this meet doesn't really matter."

It was, however, important to New Hampshire -- it was their first-ever win at Rec Hall.

"We made history because we've never beaten Penn State in their home gym before," 'Cat senior Nicole Mullins (third-place all-around) said euphorically.

Another gymnast who was happy Saturday night was 'Eer Kristin Quackenbush, who won the all-around with a 38.675 tally. In what is becoming a trend at Rec Hall this season, Quackenbush is the second freshman to wow the crowd in as many meets, following Georgia's Leah Brown, who on Jan. 16 vaulted a perfect 10.

The Lady Lions will now have two weeks to prepare for The Cat Classic, a six-team meet scheduled for Feb. 4-5 in Missouri.