The Utah women's gymnastics team showed why it is worthy of its No. 1 ranking on Saturday.

The Utes (9-0) defeated the No. 7 Lady Lions (8-2) 195.175-193.825 in front of 4,157 cheering Rec Hall fans in a battle that was close to the end.

The Lady Lions were pumped up for the meet, firmly believing they could win.

"We weren't intimidated at all" senior tri-captain Tracy Kerner said. "We knew they were beatable."

But they weren't beatable on Saturday night.

Despite a career-high 9.9 on vault by senior Lady Lion tri-captain Karen Cimochowski, Utah took an early lead after the first rotation.

Utah junior all-arounder Sandy Woolsey and senior all-arounder Suzanne Metz scored 9.825 and 9.9 respectively on the uneven bars to give the Utes a 48.575-48.550 lead.

In the second rotation, Penn State was led on the bars by Kerner (9.875) and junior Bridget Foley (9.775), but was penalized half a point for freshman Liz Agnew's fall. Utah was strong on vault, headed by Metz (9.925) and junior Megan Caudle (9.925). At the end of the first half of competition, Utah led 97.425- 96.650.

But Penn State remained strong and confident going into the second half.

"That's the sign of a real championship team," Coach Steve Shephard said. "To not buckle under pressure."

For the start of the second half, Penn State was on the balance beam and Utah took to the floor exercise. The beam was a strong point for the Lady Lions -- good performances were displayed by Agnew, freshman Joanna Knox, Kerner (9.725 each) and Foley (9.7).

But Utah continued to dominate, getting strong scores from Metz (9.9) and Caudle (9.825).

In Penn State's last attempt to top Utah, the Lady Lions were solid on floor. High scores were posted by Kerner, Foley (9.850 each) and sophomore Leigh Cappello (9.725).

But Utah showed no signs of letting up, getting high scores on the bars from Metz (9.9), freshman Traci Sommer (9.85), Woolsey (9.825) and Caudle (9.8).

Despite the tough loss, the Lady Lions were proud of their showing.

"We had a really good performance," Kerner said. "We did the best we could."