After a sixth place finish Jan. 6 at the Super Six Challenge to open its season, the Penn State women's gymnastics team was ready to get down to business.

This weekend, it did just that.

The Nittany Lions showed Illinois the reason that they are ranked No. 9 in the Preseason Coaches Poll, beating the Fighting Illini with a score of 194.825-194.65 in their first dual meet of the season.

It came down to the wire with only one event to go.

The Fighting Illini would finish on floor.

Penn State would finish on beam.

The same event that plagued the Lions the week before was the event that would determine just which team walked away with the win. At the Super Six Challenge, Penn State finished in last place on beam with a score of 47.400.

It wasn't about to let that happen again.

Penn State led the Fighting Illini going into the event by only .35.

"When we're put in situations like that we work better," Penn State gymnast Gemma Cuff said. "Being under pressure is good for us."

And it showed.

Freshman Richelle Simpson took first place on beam with a 9.925. And when it was all said and done, Penn State had posted a 49.35 on beam, its highest individual event score of the meet.

Sophomore Katie Rowland posted two more first place event finishes for Penn State scoring a 9.850 on vault and tying with Illinois' Karen Hawley and Carissa Ericson on floor with a score of 9.850. Rowland's momentum didn't stop there. She finished tied for second on the uneven bars with a 9.875 and finished second in the all-around.

Nittany Lion Nikki Bongiovanni also contributed to Penn State's high score, posting a 9.7 out of a possible 9.8 on vault.

The Nittany Lions did more than just gain a notch in the win column this weekend. They gained back some of the confidence they had been lacking in their first meet of the season.

"This was good practice for us," Maria Taylor said. "We did very good on beam. We know we can hit our routines. We practice with pressure situations in the gym."

Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard agreed with his team but added that there are still certain things his team needs to improve upon.

"Hitting beam helped their confidence," Shephard said. "But the equipment was different and they need to get better at handling that."

But the Lions won't have to worry about that next week. They get to use their own equipment as they take on New Hampshire at 7 p.m., Saturday in Rec Hall in their season home opener.