TOWSON, Md. –  Junior Alexa Davis had her best meet of the season as the Tigers posted their second-highest team score of the year with a 194.500 score but the Tigers lost to Rutgers University in the Towson Center on Friday night.

Rutgers won the meet with a 195.55 score.

Junior Luisa Leal won the all-around competition with a 39.50 score, breaking the Rutgers school record. Leal tied for first place on vault (9.875), finished first on bars (9.875), took first on beam (9.80) and won the floor exercise with a 9.95 score. She led Rutgers to the second-highest team score in school history.

Davis paced the Tigers with a 9.75 on bars to tie for third. She also had a 9.725 on beam as she finished fifth. On floor, she tied for eighth place with a 9.75 score.

The Tigers started the meet on vault and earned a seasonal high 48.95 team score to take a half-point lead over Rutgers. Senior Britney Russell led the Tigers' performance by posting a career high 9.875 vault score.

Freshman Lydia Thompson had a career high 9.85 score while freshman Katie Sassa contributed a 9.80 score. Freshman Erin Odom also had a career high 9.75 for the Tigers.

While Towson was vaulting, Rutgers earned a 48.45 team score on bars.

In the second rotation, Rutgers took the lead with a 49.10 team score on vault. Leal led the Scarlet Knights with a 9.875 score to tie Russell for first place while freshman Jenna Williams matched Thompson's 9.85 vault.

Led by a 9.75 score by Davis, Towson earned a 48.575 score on bars. At the halfway point of the meet, Rutgers held a very slim lead. The Scarlet Knights had a 97.55 score while Towson owned a 97.525 score.

In the third rotation, Rutgers took command of the meet. Led by Leal, the Scarlet Knights posted a 49.175 team score on floor. Five Rutgers gymnasts earned 9.80 scores on floor. At the same time, the Tigers had a 48.15 score on beam.

The Scarlet Knights wrapped up the victory on beam as they earned a 48.825 team score, the exact score that Towson received on floor.

“We were off on a few things and we'll correct them,” said Towson Coach Vicki Chliszczyk. “We made some changes to our vault lineup and they worked out very well. We showed a lot of fight this evening and I am happy we scored over 194.00 for the second meet in a row.”

Russell also had a big meet for the Tigers. She tied for first on vault with her career high 9.875 score. She also tied for third on floor exercise with a 9.80 score. Thompson posted a pair of career highs in the win over Rutgers. She tied for third place on vault with a career best 9.85 score and her 9.75 on bars earned her a third place tie.

The Tigers will close out their home schedule on Friday, March 15 when they host George Washington, Southern Connecticut and West Chester in the final event ever to be held in the Towson Center. The meet gets underway at 7:00 p.m.  

College Gymnastics:     1. Rutgers 195.55, 2. Towson 194.500

VAULT:  1. Britney Russell (TOW), 9.875; Luisa Leal (RUT), 9.875; 3. Lydia Thompson (TOW), 9.85; Jenna Williams (RUT), 9.85.

BARS:  1. Luisa Leal (RUT), 9.875; 2. Jenna Williams (RUT), 9.825; 3. Lydia Thompson (TOW), 9.75; Alexa Davis (TOW), 9.75.

BEAM:  1. Luisa Leal (RUT), 9.80; Alexis Gunzelman (RUT), 9.80; 3. Alyssa Straub (RUT), 9.75; Claudia Salinas (RUT), 9.75.

FLOOR:  1. Luisa Leal (RUT), 9.95;  2. Danielle Verdon (RUT), 9.825; 3. Britney Russell (TOW), 9.80; Lauren Ross (TOW), 9.80; Alexis Gunzelman (RUT), 9.80; Danielle D'Elia (RUT), 9.80; Katie Stebick (RUT), 9.80.

ALL-AROUND:  1. Luisa Leal (RUT), 39.50;  2. Alexis Gunzelman (RUT), 38.925.