Illinois’ women’s gymnastics team is still struggling to hit a perfect 24 of 24 routines in a competition, and Friday at Auburn proved to be no exception.

Counting several mistakes on the final rotation of the night, the Illini scored a season-low 47.225 on the balance beam as the No. 12 Tigers defeated the Illini 195.825 to 193.225.

Senior Michelle McGrady and freshmen Melissa Fernandez and Allison Buckley all turned in very low scores on the beam, finishing with 8.450, 8.775 and 9.100, respectively. Junior Julie Crall, however, captured her fourth event title of the season with an impressive 9.850.

Posting their second-highest scores of the season on the uneven bars (48.850) and the vault (48.775), the Illini started the meet on a successful note.

“We were feeling good at the midpoint of the competition tonight,” said head coach Bob Starkell in a press release. “We were probably headed toward our highest team score this year.”

Junior Lindsey Smith won her first event title on the vault with a career-high score of 9.850, tying Auburn standout junior Lindsey Puckett.

Unfortunately for the Illini, things turned sour after the second rotation.

Entering the second half of the competition, mistakes crushed the Illini’s hopes of turning in a team-high score at the end of the night.

On the floor exercise, freshman Samantha Perino scored an 8.975, while Buckley posted another low score of 9.300.

Sophomore Nicole Cowart performed well, placing second in the all-around competition.

“Nicole had a strong all-around performance,” Starkell said. “She brought a lot of energy to the team tonight and showed some strong leadership. Nicole has struggled on floor recently, but tonight she did a really good routine.”

Though the Big Ten/SEC showdown did not go Illinois’ way, the team remains optimistic as the season winds down.

The Illini have four tough practices scheduled this week before the team returns to Huff Hall on Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. meet against Missouri.