Huskers Gear Up For Big Ten Clash With Wolverines

No. 12 Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) at No. 10 Michigan Wolverines (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten)

Saturday, Jan. 28, 3 p.m. (CT) – Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)

Live Stream/Scores: MGoBlue.com

Huskers Gear Up For Big Ten Clash With Wolverines
The 12th-ranked Nebraska women’s gymnastics team (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) returns to action this Saturday against 10th-ranked Michigan in showdown of two of the Big Ten’s top teams at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., at 3 p.m. (CT).

The Cornhuskers took first place in a quad meet their last time out, taking down Rutgers, Brown and West Chester with a score of 196.050 last Saturday in Piscataway, N.J. Ashley Lambert led the way for NU, winning the all-around title with a score of 39.200. She also picked up a vault title with a score of 9.875 and a floor title with a 9.90. Sienna Crouse and Megan Schweihofer shared the bars title with a 9.85, while Grace Williams paced the Huskers on beam with a 9.85, good for second overall.

NU comes into the meet ranked in the top-10 on three events. The Huskers are the fifth-ranked team in the nation on bars with an average of 49.263 through two meets. Nebraska is also ranked ninth on floor exercise and 10th on vault. Jennie Laeng’s average of 9.925 on bars is tied for second-highest in the country.

Michigan is 3-2 on the season and 1-1 in Big Ten action after taking down No. 19 Illinois by a score of 197.050-195.300 last Sunday. The Wolverines are led by Nicole Artz, who is tied for 12th nationally with an average of 39.425 in the all-around. Artz is one of the strongest floor performers in the nation, as she scored a 10.0 on the event last week against Illinois. Bev Plocki is in her 28th season as the head coach at Michigan.

Nebraska’s series with Michigan is tied 23-23-1. The Huskers took down then-No. 3 Michigan last season, 196.775-196.550, at the Devaney Center on Jan. 29, 2016. Michigan got the best of the Big Red at the Big Ten Championships last season, as the Wolverines won the conference meet with a 197.125, while the Huskers took second with a 196.900.

The Huskers will begin the meet on bars, before rotating to vault, floor and beam. A live stream and live scores for the meet will be available at MGoBlue.com.

Last Time Out
The Huskers took first in a quad meet with a score of 196.050 last Saturday at Rutgers (194.200) with Brown (190.650) and West Chester (190.475). Ashley Lambert won the all-around title with a 39.200, and also picked up wins on vault (9.875) and floor (9.90). Sienna Crouse and Megan Schweihofer shared the bars title with scores of 9.85. With the win in the quad meet, the Huskers clinched the 900th win in program history. Nebraska’s all-time record improved to 902-472-7 since the program began in 1976.

Scouting Michigan
Michigan enters the meet with a record of 3-2 after defeating Illinois, 197.050-195.300, last Sunday in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines have an average of 196.100 through three meets this season, and rank 10th in the nation. Senior Nicole Artz leads the way for Michigan with an average of 39.425 in the all-around, which is tied for 12th in the nation. Artz is also tied for second on floor with an average of 9.942. She scored a perfect 10.0 on floor last weekend against Illinois. For her efforts against the Illini, Artz was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Week on Monday. Artz also claimed Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week honors on Jan. 16 after she won the floor title with a 9.95 at the Ohio State quad meet. Junior Lauren Marinez earned Big Ten Event Specialist-of-the-Week honors on Monday, after she won the beam title against Illinois. Senior Talia Chiarelli and sophomore Emma McLean were both named to the Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch list in the preseason. Michigan was ranked seventh in the 2016-17 Road to Nationals Preseason Coaches’ Poll, and was picked to win the Big Ten by the conference’s coaches. Michigan returns six letterwinners from last season and welcomes six newcomers to the team in 2017. The Wolverines are coached by Bev Plocki, who is in her 28th season at the helm of the program.

Last Year Against the Wolverines
Nebraska defeated third-ranked Michigan by a score of 196.775-196.550 on Jan. 29, 2016 at the Devaney Center. Grace Williams scored a career-high 39.500 in the all-around, highlighted by a career-high 9.95 to win the beam title. Jennie Laeng picked up a pair of event titles, winning the uneven bars with a score of 9.925 and tying for first on vault with a 9.85. The win was Nebraska’s first regular-season victory over a top-five team since 2012 and their first win over a top-three ranked team since 2009. The Wolverines took down the Huskers at the 2016 Big Ten Championships, finishing first with a 197.125, while the Huskers took second with a 196.900.

Series History
The all-time series between Nebraska and Michigan is tied 23-23-1. Since Nebraska joined the Big Ten for the 2012 season, Michigan leads the series, 7-4, including 3-0 in Ann Arbor. Nebraska has not won in Ann Arbor since a 197.500-197.225 victory on March 14, 2003.

Nebraska Tied for 12th in Rankings
Nebraska’s season average is up to 195.875 after the Big Red posted scores of 195.700 and 196.050 in its first two meets of the season. The average is tied with Georgia for 12th in the nation. Oklahoma, LSU and Florida held steady in the top three spots in the Jan. 23 poll, while Utah and Alabama traded places to round out the top-five.

Three Events Ranked in Top-10
Nebraska’s vault, bars and floor squads have been strong through the first two weeks of the season, as each rank among the top-10 teams in the nation. NU is averaging 49.263 on uneven bars, good for fifth in the latest rankings. Nebraska’s bars score of 49.425 against Penn State is among the NCAA’s best to date. Only five teams have recorded higher bars scores through the first three weeks of the season (Oklahoma - 49.575 vs. Alabama; Oklahoma - 49.475 vs. UCLA; Florida - 49.475 vs. Kentucky; LSU - 49.450 vs. Texas Woman’s; Michigan - 49.475 vs. Illinois). The Huskers are also ranked No. 9 on floor exercise with an average of 49.150 and 10th on vault with an average of 49.088.

Huskers in the Top-25
Senior Jennie Laeng ranks second in the nation on bars with an average of 9.925, while Sienna Crouse (12th-9.888) and Megan Schweihofer (25th-9.863) join her in the bars rankings. Ashley Lambert ranks 12th in the nation on floor exercise after her 9.90 performance at Rutgers. Laeng and Crouse are also tied for 16th in the nation with averages of 39.350 in the all-around.

Houchin Wins Big Ten Honor
Taylor Houchin was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week the week of Jan. 16 after she won the vault title with a 9.90 and posted scores of 9.825 on bars (6th) and floor (T-2nd) against Penn State in her first collegiate meet. The honor is the first of Houchin’s career and the first Big Ten honor for NU since Jennie Laeng was named Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week on Feb. 1, 2016.

NCAA Regional Tickets Now Available
Tickets for the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Lincoln Regional on Saturday, April 1 are now available at the Nebraska Athletics Ticketing and Engagement Office. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Tickets are $9 for reserved (B Level) seats, $7 for adult general admission (C Level) seats and $5 for general admission (C Level) seats for youth (high school and younger), seniors (age 60+) and college students with I.D. Children under the age of 2 (23 months and younger) will get in free.

Up Next
Nebraska will gear up for a busy weekend, as the Big Red will travel to top-ranked Oklahoma for a quad meet with the Sooners, No. 7 Denver and Texas Woman’s next Friday, which will begin at 6:45 p.m. The meet can be seen on Sooner Sports TV. The Huskers will return home to host No. 22 Iowa next Sunday, with the meet set for 1 p.m. at the Devaney Center. As part of the Pepsi Pack the House promotion, fans can enjoy $1 admission and $1 Pepsi products for the meet against Iowa.