IOWA CITY - No. 24 Iowa was defeated by No. 22 Illinois, Friday, 193.650-192.975. The Hawkeyes earned their best vault score of the season with a total 48.55 in the event. Junior Jenifer Simbhudas earned the bars title with a 9.825.

On vault, Iowa earned three of the top four scores. The best vault performance was by Simbhudas, who finished with an impressive 9.85 for a close second to Allison Buckley of Illinois. Kara Pinjuv earned a third-place finish with a score of 9.775. Freshman Houry Gebeshian tied for fourth with a mark of 9.725 which is her new career-best.

"We did some great things tonight. We worked hard throughout the past week to improve on vault and we did that," said Iowa Head Coach Larissa Libby.

Moving on to bars, Iowa competed strongly earning a team total 48.6. Iowa once again earned three of the top four spots. Behind Simbhudas' first-place performance were Brandi Loffer and Katie Burke who tied for second with a score of 9.775.

Iowa, although strong on vault and bars, could not keep up on beam. After an unfortunate fall and rough landing for two of the Hawkeyes, the team finished with a 47.650. Simbhudas once again led Iowa, finishing third with a 9.75. The Hawkeyes' next best competitors were Pinjuv and Gebeshian, who tied for sixth, scoring 9.65.

The Hawkeyes re-adjusted before the floor exercise and saw some great performances, scoring a total 48.175. Jenny Donar was Iowa's top performer on floor, earning a 9.7 to finish fourth. Loffer and Burke tied for fifth with a 9.65.

Although the Hawkeyes saw some of their best performances of 2008, the effort was not enough to hold off the Illini.

"We have to become a better beam team," said Libby. "We have got to go 24 for 24 throughout our competitions. Tonight Illinois stayed up and we did not, so we will go back and work on that in practice to improve for next weekend's competition."

Iowa will compete Saturday, February 2nd at SEMO. Competition is set to begin at 2 p.m. CST. The Hawkeyes will then return home Saturday, February 9th to face Ohio State, which will be aired on the Big Ten Network.

Final Team Scores
Team                 Vault     Bars      Beam    Floor     Total
1. #22 Illinois	   48.700    48.025    48.275  48.650    193.650
2. #24 Iowa         48.550    48.600    47.650  48.175 192.975

Individual Results (winner plus Iowa):
Vault (winner plus Iowa):
1. Allison Buckley (Illinois)	9.875
2. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa)	         9.850
3. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa)		9.775
4t. Houry Gebeshian (Iowa)   	9.725
9. Brandi Loffer (Iowa)		9.650
11. Katie Burke (Iowa)		9.550
12. Amanda Rudolph (Iowa)	         9.500

Uneven Bars (winner plus Iowa):
1. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa)	9.825
2t. Brandi Loffer (Iowa)		9.775
2t. Katie Burke (Iowa)		9.775
6. Ally Zipse (Iowa)		9.725
9. Houry Gebeshian (Iowa)	         9.500
10. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa)		9.225

Balance Beam (winner plus Iowa):
1. Julie Crall (Illinois)		9.875
3t. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa)	9.750
6t. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa)		9.650
6t. Houry Gebeshian (Iowa)   	9.650
8. Becky Simbhudas (Iowa)	         9.375
9. Katie Burke (Iowa)		9.225
12. Brandi Loffer (Iowa)		8.950

Floor Exercise (winner plus Iowa):
1t. Allison Buckley (Illinois)	9.825
1t. Nicole Cowart (Illinois)	9.825
4. Jenny Donar (Iowa)		9.700
5t. Brandi Loffer (Iowa)		9.650
5t. Katie Burke (Iowa)		9.650
8. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa)		9.625
9. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa)	         9.550
12. Kristen Ward (Iowa)		8.900

All-Around (winner plus Iowa):
1. Sarah Schmidt (Illinois)		39.050
2. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa)	         38.975
5. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa)		38.275
6. Katie Burke (Iowa)		38.200
7. Brandi Loffer (Iowa)		38.025 

Click HERE for the Big Ten Network home page.