The No. 4 and previously unbeaten Sooner women's gymnastics team came in second just behind No. 11 Nebraska Saturday afternoon at the Big 12 Championships in Columbia, Mo. The Cornhuskers won 196.775-197.500, with Iowa State and Missouri finishing third and fourth, respectively.

The Sooners posted a 49.100 on floor and only trailed Nebraska by one-tenth after the first rotation of the night. However, the team dug itself in a hole it could not overcome with the next two rotations. The Sooners posted their third-lowest score of the season on vault and second-lowest of the year on the bars.

Even though the team performed so poorly on the vault, it still did enough to cut Nebraska’s lead to .075 heading to the third rotation. Junior Sara Stone led the Sooners on the event from the anchor position with a 9.875, and freshman Madison Mooring and sophomore Natasha Kelley scored 9.825 and 9.8 respectively to help the team cut into the Cornhuskers’ lead.

The major problems showed up on the bars. The Sooners had two falls and headed to the final rotation a full four-tenths behind Nebraska. The Sooners were ranked No. 2 in the nation in the event going into the championships; however, they needed to post a program-record score of 49.725 to catch up to Nebraska.

Kelley and junior Megan Ferguson helped the team by scoring 9.925s on the beam, and senior Natalie Ratcliff added a 9.9. All six gymnasts posted at least a 9.8 on the event to help propel the team to a season-high beam score of 49.450, but it was not quite enough to get the program its fourth-straight Big 12 title.

A few Sooners did bring home individual conference titles. Ferguson and Kelley split the beam title with their 9.925s, and sophomore Kayla Nowak split the floor title with Nebraska’s Erin Davis with her 9.9 on the event.

Up next, the Sooners host an NCAA Regional at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman on Saturday, April 2. If they perform well at home, the Sooners will then travel to Cleveland, Ohio, on April 15 for the NCAA Championships.