One by one, they fell from the beam.

The event they had concentrated on at practice all week, and that they nailed last week against Illinois, was the one and only weak spot of the Penn State women's gymnastics team Saturday night.

Despite the less than perfect performance on the beam, the Nittany Lions beat New Hampshire by the score of 194.075 — 192.150, increasing its overall dual meet record to 2-0.

Four out of the six Penn State competitors counted falls on the beam, leading the Lions to a 47.300 on the event, the only event in which the Wildcats would beat the Nittany Lions.

"We were a little nervous on beam and we made some mistakes," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said.

"We weren't quite as sharp tonight as we were against Illinois. We have the potential to do a lot better."

Penn State's Maria Taylor came through for her team though, finishing the rotation on beam and scoring a 9.825, which would earn her a first place finish on the beam and tied New Hampshire's Suzanne Poretz.

Taylor stepped up her performance in more than one way this weekend. In addition to her finish on beam, she also placed first on bars earning a 9.925.

Taylor's contributions to the team earned her the Ann Carr Award, which is given to the gymnast who provides the most inspirational performance at each home meet.

Penn State made up for its poor performance on beam with solid performances on bars, vault and floor.

The Nittany Lions scored a 49.350 on bars, 48.550 on vault and a 48.875 on floor and took first, second and third place on all three of the events.

Gemma Cuff led the team on bars and vault with a 9.9 and a 9.825, respectively. Cuff, a regular competitor in the all-around only saw action in two events due to a heel injury she sustained against Illinois.

"I bruised my heel at the last meet and at practice on Friday I landed pretty hard on it," Cuff said. "I competed tonight on the essential events. I want to get back to 100 percent. I want to be fit for the rest of the season."

Coming off a win last weekend during a four-team event against North Carolina State, Arizona and James Madison, New Hampshire was unhappy with its performance.

"We focused on trying to beat Penn State instead of hitting our own routines," New Hampshire coach Gail Goodspeed said. "We focused on trying to win instead of perform."

Penn State looks to continue its winning streak to 3-0 as it travels to Ohio State at 7 p.m. Saturday to take on the Buckeyes.