The Lindenwood women's gymnastics team put together the best performance in its two-year history on Saturday in Champaign, Ill.  The Lady Lions scored 9.600 or higher in 20 of their 24 performances and shattered the top team score in program history.

Lindenwood has threatened its team record in recent events, but has fallen just short. On Saturday, it put together a complete performance to finally surpass the school record set at last year's MIC Championships. The Lady Lions recorded a team score of 194.450, defeating the previous record by 1.400 points. In route to setting that mark, the team set team event records in the vault, uneven bars, and beam, and scored the third-highest score on the floor.

The Lady Lions were not the only team to set a team record. Illinois set a new mark for its program with a score of 197.100 which gave the Fighting Illini the win in the dual meet.

The Lady Lions started the competition on the bars and scored a 48.550. Courtney Heise and Emily Turik both had top-10 performances as Heise scored a 9.825 and Turik had a 9.800. Other top marks were Lauren Cartmell with a 9.675, Aubree Horn with a 9.650, and Katie Kuehl with a 9.600.

Lindenwood next scored a 48.500 on the vault highlighted by Rachel Zabawa setting a school record with a 9.875. Turik was runner-up on the team with a 9.725, followed by Alicia Floyd and Ajiea Hargrave with a 9.650. Horn finished that event with a 9.600.

The Lady Lions were on the floor in the third rotation and scored a 48.650. Heise and Zabawa both tied for the tenth-best score in school history with a 9.775, and Turik just missed with a 9.750. Hannah Rector scored a 9.725 with her routine, and Cartmell scored a 9.625.

Lindenwood put an exclamation point on the night with a 48.750 on the team, its best beam score in school history and its second-best team score for any event. Cartmell led the team with a 9.825, which tied for fifth in the school record books. Rector and Zabawa also had top-10 performances with a 9.800 and 9.775, respectively. Alicia Floyd scored a 9.750 and Valeri Ingui had a 9.600.

Turik finished with an all-around score of 38.550, her seventh straight meet with a mark of 38.000 or higher. That mark was the eighth-best all-around score in program history.

Lindenwood concluded its regular season with the Illinois meet. The Lady Lions compete at the MIC Championships on March 22 in Normal, Ill.