Feb. 13, 2016
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -Behind a one-two finish in the all-around, the Penn State women's gymnastics team downed No. 23 Ohio State, 195.925-195.675, inside the St. John Arena Saturday afternoon. The Nittany Lions finished 2-0 on their two-meet Big Ten road trip.
The Nittany Lions improve to 2-3 (2-2 Big Ten), while Ohio State falls to 3-4 (1-4 Big Ten).
Kiera Brown (Newport News, Va.) set the tone for the Nittany Lions Saturday as she took home her first career all-around title with a career-best 39.325. Sophomore Briannah Tsang (Vancouver, British Columbia) was close behind Brown for a second-place finish as she tallied a 39.300 on the afternoon.
The Nittany Lions got the day started with four Penn Staters finishing in the top-five on the uneven bars. For her second-straight meet and third time this season, Brown brought home the uneven bars title. Brown led the Nittany Lion contingent with a 9.925 for the uneven bars crown.
Also on the uneven bars, freshman Sabrina Garcia (Etters, Pa.) tied for second with her score of 9.825, while Tsang finished fourth (9.800) and Jessica Jones (Canfield, Ohio) chipped in a 9.750 to tie for fifth.
Then Penn State moved to the vault, where Garcia hit a personal-best 9.775 to tie for a first-place finish along with a pair of Buckeyes.
A trio of Nittany Lions tied for fifth to help the Blue and White tally a score of 48.625 on the event. Brown, Mason Hosek (Pearland, Texas) and Tsang all hit 9.725 to finish tied for fifth on the vault.
After tying for fifth on the vault, Tsang went on to claim her second floor exercise title of the season and her fifth career floor exercise title. Tsang tied Ohio State's Alexis Mattern for the top spot (9.900).
Also on the floor exercise, Brown added a third-place finish on the day as she scored a career-best 9.850.
As a group on the floor exercise, the Nittany Lions recorded a season-best 49.125 to extend their lead over the Buckeyes.
The Nittany Lions closed out the meet on the balance beam as Hosek won her first career title as a Nittany Lion. Hosek claimed the top spot with a career-best 9.900. Heading into this weekend, Hosek's career best on the balance beam was 9.825, a mark she hit twice.
Penn State secured a season-best 49.200 on balance beam as Nicole Medvitz (Paramus, N.J.) and Tsang tied for second with their scores of 9.875.
For the fifth straight meet, the Blue and White have tallied a season-best team score.
The Nittany Lions return home next weekend for a quad meet against No. 4 Alabama, No. 12 Denver and Cornell. Start time on Saturday is 4 p.m. inside Rec Hall.