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Sooners return to Norman for conference meet
by   |  February 18, 2011  |  

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Sophomore Natasha Kelley competes on the beam during OU’s quad meet Jan. 21, the last time the Sooners competed in Norman. Oklahoma hosts Missouri tonight at Lloyd Noble Center. (Meredith Moriak/The Daily)

The fourth-ranked Sooner women’s gymnastics team finally competes again at home tonight after three weeks on the road.

OU hosts Missouri at 7 p.m. at Lloyd Noble Center.

Oklahoma is coming off its biggest win of the season over No. 25 Iowa State last weekend, 197.225-195.375.

The score was easily the team’s highest of the year, and the Sooners are now one of only three teams to score above 197 this season.

The Sooners also hold the nation’s longest regular-season winning streak. The team has not lost a regular-season meet since the 2006-07 season.

The picture does not look as good for Missouri. The Tigers have only come out on top once in six competitions this season.

Most recently, the Tigers lost two straight at home to conference foe Nebraska and Illinois.

Mizzou also has not scored as highly as OU. The Tigers notched their two highest scores of the year in their latest losses with totals of 195 and 195.400.

As OU’s season-high team score last week shows, the Sooners are showing off their best gymnastics of the season right now.

Freshman Taylor Spears won Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for the second-straight week following the dismantling of Iowa State, and sophomore Natasha Kelley won Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week for the first time this season after winning individual titles on bar and beam last weekend.

Kelley also became only the second NCAA gymnast to score a 9.95 on the bars this year.

She has scored at least a 9.9 in five beam routines this season and is currently ranked No. 5 nationally on the apparatus.

After facing Missouri, the Sooners hit the road one final time to face Michigan on Feb. 26.

Then the team closes out the regular season with two home meets before heading to the Big 12 Championship to compete for a third-straight conference title.

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