LIVE STATS

ESPN3

DEKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois University women's gymnastics team welcomes No. 12 Illinois, Illinois State and UIC to the Convocation Center for the State of Illinois Classic Saturday night.

Competition will begin at 6 p.m. Central Time and will be shown live on ESPN3. In addition,live stats will also be available at the start of the meet.

"There's not many states that do this where the colleges that have gymnastics get together like this," said NIU head coach Sam Morreale. "It's a great thing for fans to come out and see all four teams from the state. There's a great crowd and good energy."

The Huskies (8-3, 3-2), who are undefeated at home this season with a 4-0 record, come into Saturday night's meet looking to rebound from a setback at Ball State last week. The State of Illinois Classic, in addition to improving the team's chances at NCAA Regionals, provides a little extra motivation for the team to get back on track.

"The great thing is we're going against the No. 12 team in the nation," Morreale said. "It's not something we can take for granted. For us, we're still chasing that 196.0, so it's a great opportunity to get that."

NIU has excelled on the vault and floor all season, averaging a 48.553 and 48.542 respectively. After a slow start, the bars' squad has really stepped it up in recent weeks. The Huskies have scored three of their highest scores on the uneven parallel bars, including a season-high 48.950, the fifth highest in school history, in three of the last four weeks.

A big reason for NIU's success on the bars has been the success of sophomore Jamyra Carter (Ypsilanti, Mich./Huron) and freshman Ashley Potts (Oakwood Hills, Ill./Prairie Ridge). The pair has finished one-two in each of the last three meets, with Carter taking the top spot all three times.

"Ashley has been doing a really good job," he said. "She works her butt off in practice, gets in the meet and she's not really overwhelmed or nervous. She just goes in and does her stuff, not only on bars, but in the other events too.

"Jamyra is a bar rockstar. She's a kid that could score a 9.900-plus when she puts a good routine together. That's something she's chasing."

The Huskies faced UIC in the first meet of the season, posting a 192.250-189.575 victory over the Flames. This will be the first time the Huskies will face off against Illinois and Illinois State.

"We saw UIC earlier this season," he said. "I'm sure they've improved a little bit. We haven't see Illinois State yet, but based on what I've seen score-wise, they're creeping up a little bit."

NIU finished in third at last year's meet with a 193.625. While this year's meet is an opportunity to compete against in-state foes, it's a good preparation for the Mid-American Conference Gymnastics Championships in two weeks.

"It's another one of those meets where we'll rotate in Olympic order, similar to MACs," Morreale said. "It gets us ready, sort of like a dress rehearsal for that."

-NIU-