As has been the case all season, the Illinois women’s gymnastics team’s meet against No. 7 Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb., was decided by missed 10ths.

In the end, the 10ths added up to a full point, and the No. 19 Illini lost their upset bid Friday to the Cornhuskers 195.750-194.750.

“After coming off such a strong performance last week, I was really disappointed with our overall performance this week,” Illinois head coach Kim Landrus said. “We stumbled on floor a little bit and we gave away too many 10ths in landings in the other events.”

Illinois started the meet on bars, where the team hit its season average of 48.775. Senior Alina Weinstein recorded a team high in the event with a 9.800 and placed fourth overall.

“I think that the team did a good job on bars, but we opened the door for the judges to take 10ths away for our handstands and for our landings,” Landrus said. 

Weinstein agreed.

“Honestly, we hit our routines on bars and they were good,” she said. “But I don’t think that we were confident enough to make the changes that we have been making in practice, with sticking dismounts and hitting our handstands, and that’s what really made the difference on bars this weekend. It was good, but we want to be a great team.”

Next, the Illini moved to vault, where they would cut into the Cornhuskers’ lead by scoring above their season average. Weinstein led the team for a second straight event, as she hit a career-high 9.900, placing her second overall. Freshman Giana O’Connor finished sixth overall and second for Illinois with a score of 9.800.

“My goal every week is to stick my vault, and it’s a lot easier said than done, so it was really exciting to go out and do that this weekend,” Weinstein said.

After two events, Illinois only trailed Nebraska 97.975-97.625, well within striking distance.

“After the first two events, I saw an opportunity in front of us and I knew that our girls were capable of taking advantage of that opportunity, so when we weren’t able to do that it was disappointing,” Landrus said.

In their third rotation, the floor, the Illini stumbled. Junior Amber See finished first for Illinois and third overall with a 9.800. O’Connor placed second, tying for fifth with 9.775. The team also counted scores from junior Sarah Fiedler and sophomores Kelsi Eberly and Jordan Naleway but didn’t count Weinstein’s score because she stepped out of bounds on her final tumbling pass.

“What happened was I didn’t go as high as I should have for my second pass, and as a result, I knew immediately when I punched off the ground that I wasn’t going to be able to go for the second part of the skill and land it, so I made a decision in the air that I was just going to stop after the first part of my pass. And as a result, I didn’t get the connection value that I’m supposed to get in my routine,” Weinstein said. 

On the beam, in which the Illini were ranked 11th in the nation, the team didn’t perform as well as it could have and finished the night with a 48.500. Weinstein placed third overall with 9.800, and O’Connor finished fifth with a 9.750.

O’Connor placed ahead of Weinstein in all-around for the first time this season, scoring a 39.050 to Weinstein’s 39.000.

“We’re going to have to change our mind-set a little bit and really be determined to make it happen,” Landrus said. “We’re a talented group of kids and we have the ability to repeatedly perform like we did last weekend, and now we just have to figure out a way to make it all click on the same night consistently.”

Nicholas can be reached at [email protected] and @IlliniSportsGuy.