Gymwomen to kick off break week with Alabama rematch

Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard has to be encouraged by the events that have transpired the past few weeks.

First, his gymnasts who rarely saw action in prior meets, have stepped in and produced solid numbers. Second, in the last two competitions, the Lady Lions have suffered less than five falls out of 48 routines. Now, as spring break approaches, Penn State will be getting most of its starters back into the lineup.

That will be good news for the No. 11 Lions as they square off against No. 2 Alabama and No. 8 LSU at 8 p.m. tonight in Baton Rouge, La. Penn State will close its regular season schedule against No. 19 Nebraska in a double dual meet at 7 p.m. March 14 in Rec Hall.

"I think that they are extremely motivated and we need to work on performance instead of the final score," he said.

LSU coach Sara "Dee-Dee" Breaux said her team has a good mix of talent from the freshman to senior class. One of the areas the Tigers have trouble in is being able to perform to their capability on all events.

"We have been a little inconsistent," Breaux said. "We'll have one event in various meets that costs us a point and a half."

This will be the second time the Lions will see the Crimson Tide. Alabama defeated Penn State 195.575-193.125 on Jan. 31 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Although it is rare two teams face each other twice during the regular season, Shephard said the SEC sets up the schedule so teams will have to compete against each other two times.

Penn State junior Janae Whittaker sees tonight's meet as an opportunity to get some revenge against Alabama. She said the execution has been there in practice and the score Penn State achieved last weekend showed that it has capability to repeat that on a consistent basis.

"It's definitely exciting," she said. "We want to prove we can get this score against Alabama and beat them. It will boost our confidence level."

The Lions continue to get healthier as the season winds down. Whittaker's injured heel has improved enough so she will compete on vault. Shephard said junior Missy Leopoldus vaulted for the first time since her knee injury on Feb. 14 but will not be ready tonight on the event.

The competition against Nebraska not only will have the men and women's teams competing simultaneously but it will the final home meet for seniors Joanna Knox, Christi Huch and Carey Hoyt. Knox said it will tough holding back the emotions while they perform for the last time at Rec Hall.

"I've got a lot of memories at Penn State competing at Rec Hall," she said. "I'm going to miss this feeling and it will be emotional for all of us. I'm not sure we're ready for it to be over."