Only four inches wide, the balance beam is about as large as Tyrone 'Mugsy' Bogues.

For the Penn State women's gymnastics team, however, the tiny beam has created troubles more gigantic than Gheorghe Muresan.

After collecting three falls on the beam in last week's tri-meet at Denver, Penn State was looking to rebound Saturday against an improving University of Pittsburgh team.

With senior co-captain Leslie Bair opening on the beam routine, Penn State had considerable hopes that the problems of a week before had been corrected.

The team attacked the beam in practice like a ravenous wolf on some table scraps, frequently repeating the most difficult segments in hopes of reaching precision.

As Bair's routine was blemished by a fall, however, all hope of a turnaround had been erased.

"I took advantage of my abilities, and I lost my balance," Bair said.

Following two solid performances from Meredith Hoover and Kate Stopper, the stage had been set for Katie Rowland. With scores of 9.9 and 9.825 on the vault and bars, respectively, Rowland had led Penn State to an overall score of 98.075 after the two events had been completed.

Like a distracted tightrope walker, Rowland fell into the mat, deleting any momentum that the team had gained.

"We took a different approach in practice, and we didn't have the outcome that we had hoped for," Rowland said.

As Nikki Bongiovanni approached the balance beam, a feeling of necessity had emerged. With Pittsburgh closing in due to a successful floor routine, Penn State needed a high score from its fifth-year senior. Like a ballerina, Bongiovanni took command of the beam, causing the crowd to express the belief that Bongiovanni had deserved a perfect 10.0 for her seemingly flawless routine.

"Nikki's beam routine was tremendous. It was absolutely beautiful," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said.

Katie McAvoy was Penn State's last competitor in the beam exercise, and the apparatus once again proved to be Penn State's main adversary, with McAvoy falling as she first attended to the beam.

"[Bair, Rowland, and McAvoy] all know exactly what they need to do to fix what went wrong," Penn State women's gymnastics assistant coach Jessica Bastardi said.

"I think they're starting to feel a sense of urgency, that they need to solve the problems if they want to succeed and reach their goals."