Women's Gymnastics | February 11

DeKALB, Ill. ­–  The Northern Illinois University Gymnastics team (10-2, 2-1) moves into the second half of the season continuing its stretch of Mid-American Conference competitions as it heads to Kalamazoo, Mich., Sunday. The Huskies will take on Western Michigan (2-5, 1-3) at 12 p.m. CST.
 
This weekend will be NIU and WMU's second meeting of the season. The Huskies hosted the Broncos in their first meet of the season along with Lindenwood and Iowa. The Huskies won the quad meet with a score of 194.825 over WMU's 193.250, Iowa's 194.200 and Lindenwood's 192.075.
 
"At this point we should be ready to go and build off what we did in the weeks prior," said NIU head coach Sam Morreale. "Now's the time to start putting up some scores, and climbing the regional rankings."
 
The Huskies move into the weekend building off of two successful weekends at home against Kent State (194.425-194.375) and Southeast Missouri State (194.425-190.500) on Jan. 29, and their Bowling Green (194.875-192.875) competition on Feb. 3 when they set their season high total team score. The team has proved to be consistent at home with a record of 6-0 at the Convocation Center. With three straight wins, the squad is prepared to continue hitting their marks against the Broncos.
 
"We were able to get back into that positive frame for two weeks," said Morreale. "It's like what we've been doing since week one, just building off the success we've had, replicating that, but then smoothing out some of those problem areas."
 
Senior Courtney Dowdell (Lynwood, Ill./Thornton Fractional South) and sophomore Anna Martucci (Clarkston, Mich./Our Lady of the Lakes) added their names to the record books last weekend. Dowdell's 9.900 uneven parallel bars routine tied her for 10th and Martucci's 9.250 on floor that was the highest score since 2003 when Kristina Campos hit the mark.
 
"This group has some big goals, and in order to achieve those goals, they're going to have to break records and move up the boards," said Morreale. "It's exciting to see them taking those steps."
 
To follow the Huskies as they continue to strive for top marks, watch them compete on WatchESPN.com and follow them on Twitter, @Niugymnastics.
 
-NIU-