Heading into this weekend's meet in Columbia, Mo., the No. 21 Penn State women's gymnastics team believed itself to be the favorite to defeat Missouri, BYU and Kentucky. This was especially true after four straight wins for the Nittany Lions, who haven't lost since Jan. 16.

As the weekend drew to a close, it was evident that there is still work that needs to be done for the young team to consider themselves a dominant squad.

Friday's competition saw the Lions (5-3) place third overall with a score of 195.575. Missouri won the evening's competition, scoring 197.350. BYU finished second, scoring 196.125. Kentucky was fourth with 194.125.

This weekend's meet was different from others because it gave the Lions a chance to showcase their individual gymnasts as well as the strength of the overall team.

The meet was held over two nights, with each team competing Friday night and the top 10 competitors from each event competing individually on Saturday night.

As it has been in every meet this season, the Lions were hampered by their performance on the uneven bars. The Lions scored 48.400 in the event, .475 points lower than its next lowest event score.

Penn State women's gymnastics assistant coach Bill Lorenz has been saying all year that the team needs to work out its issues on the bars.

"We need to fix this instead of letting it stay a problem," he said.

The Lions continued to score well on the vault and balance beam, arguably its two best events. The team scored a season-high 49.075 on the vault and 49.125 on the beam.

Lisa Clark and Gena Shingle both had a team-high vault score of 9.850.

Kate Stopper and Meredith Hoover turned in the Lions' two highest scores on the beam with a 9.875 and 9.850, respectively. Shingle also turned in a solid performance on the beam, tying her career-high of 9.825.

On the floor, the Lions were paced by Kate Stopper's career-high score of 9.950. Ashley Mehrer and Shingle also posted solid scores of 9.800.

On Saturday night, the Lions had five gymnasts participating in the individual competition.

Lisa Clark placed sixth overall on the vault with a score of 9.800, and Shingle scored a 9.750, which was good enough for a seventh-place finish.

Competing in the uneven bars, Clark tied her career-high of 9.875, earning her a second-overall finish.

"I'm extremely proud of Lisa," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said. "She's done a great job for us all year."

Shingle also placed third overall on the beam with a career-high 9.850. Meredith Hoover earned a sixth-place finish on the beam with a score of 9.725.