Feb. 9, 2013

BERKELEY - The No. 23 California women's gymnastics team (6-4, 1-4 Pac-12) fell to No. 7 Utah (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) 197.050-192.750 on the road at Huntsman Pavilion in Salt Lake City Saturday.

Though Cal was limited in its lineups due to nagging injuries, the Golden Bears used energy from the 14,000 plus audience to fuel several notable performances.

"The crowd really helped us on some of our events, like the high-flying, high-adrenaline vault, and having the crowd there really helped us as we tried to sell our routine to the audience in the floor exercise," Cal head coach Justin Howellsaid.

The Golden Bears started the meet on the uneven bars, scoring solid 48.575. On vault, the team pieced together its third-best performance of the season, combining for 49.050, before moving on to the floor exercise, where the team earned a 48.725. It was on the balance beam where the Bears ran into some trouble, registering 46.40 after the team could not adjust to the noise from the crowd.

"Beam is a completely mental event, and the intensity of the crowd definitely got to us," Howell said.

Junior Alicia Asturiaswas Cal's impressive individual winner for the night, earning second place titles in vault (9.9), bars (9.85) and the all-around (39.3). Asturias matched her career-best scores on both vault and the all-around competition.

"Alicia has performed so well every single week. It's a team effort out there but she certainly has helped carry and lead the team with her rock-steady performances each week," Howell said. "She is one of the top all-arounders in the country, and she's only getting better week after week."

Freshman Serena Leong matched her career-high on vault with 9.85, set at last week's meet against Oregon State. The Golden Bears also saw new season-bests from sophomore Maddie Kratzke with a 9.675 on the uneven bars and freshman Jordan Widener with a 9.65 in the floor exercise. Senior Chelsea Spomermade her debut in the floor lineup, registering a 9.575.

The Golden Bears will enjoy more than a week off before returning home to Haas Pavilion to host a triangular meet featuring Brown University and San Jose State on Monday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m.

Cal vs. Utah Event Winners
Vault:
1	 Tory Wilson	         UTAH	        10.000
2	 Alicia Asturias	 CALIFORNIA	9.900
3	 Mary Beth Lofgren	 UTAH	        9.875
Uneven Bars:
1	 Nansy Damianova	 UTAH	        9.875
2	 Alicia Asturias	 CALIFORNIA	9.850
3	 Tory Wilson	         UTAH	        9.825
Balance Beam:
1	 Georgia Dabritz	 UTAH	        9.900
2	 Kassandra Lopez	 UTAH	        9.800
3	 Breanna Hughes	         UTAH	        9.775
Floor Exercise:
1	 Georgia Dabritz	 UTAH	        9.975
2	 Becky Tutka	         UTAH	        9.925
3	 Tory Wilson	         UTAH	        9.900
All-Around:
1	 Tory Wilson	         UTAH	        39.475
2	 Alicia Asturias	 CALIFORNIA	39.300
3	 Georgia Dabritz	 UTAH	        39.075