NORMAN, Okla. — The ninth-ranked ISU women’s gymnastics team had hoped to take the Big 12 Championships by storm, but a set of hesitant and uninspired uneven bars routines left the team in last place after Saturday’s first rotation.

It looked as though the Cyclones might be left out in the cold, but a strong showing in the final events propelled the Cyclones into second place, .65 points behind overall champion Nebraska.

“They were competing not to make a mistake instead of being aggressive and going all-out for it,” said coach K.J. Kindler. “We didn’t count a fall [on bars], but we did count some routines that weren’t up to par.

“I told [the team], ‘We did not come here to compete; if we did, we came for the wrong reasons — we came here to win.'”

With that said, the team dug in and showed its mettle, picking up momentum on balance beam before unleashing a series of championship-caliber performances on floor and vault to move into second place overall (196.00). The Cyclones bypassed Missouri (194.875) and last year’s champion Oklahoma (195.50), who followed up a first-place finish on uneven bars with two devastating falls and a near-fall on beam, to drop from first to third.

“We knew we had to finish strong and compete with confidence,” said junior all-arounder Laura-Kay Powell. “[After bars] we didn’t have anything to lose; I think we really came back the best we could.”

The late surge was not enough to overcome fourth-ranked Nebraska, which started off with several weak performances on beam but immediately locked into cruise control, winning the beam and floor competitions (48.90 and 49.35 respectively) en route to its seventh conference title in nine years (196.65).

“Could we have made up six-tenths?” Kindler said. “Definitely; but Nebraska is ranked very high and is a very good team. To even come close to them tells us where we are and where we need to be.”

When the going got tough, the Cyclones turned to their three all-around competitors, who came through in a big way.

Powell and team co-captain Erin Dethloff matched each others’ scores on every event and, with sophomore Janet Anson, won a trio of silver medals on vault (9.90). Powell and Dethloff also won a pair of bronze medals on beam, before securing a pair of silvers in the all-around competition (39.35). Nebraska’s Richelle Simpson (39.525) won the all-around, reclaiming the Big 12 title she won in 2003.

“It wasn’t the start we probably wanted to have, but we knew we had to come back and save every tenth for the team,” Dethloff said. “That was our main focus.”

Though Anson suffered a disappointing fall on beam in the second rotation, which took her out of the all-around running, she bounced back immediately with her best performance of the evening on the floor. She hit a near-perfect routine, matching her season high and tying Simpson for Big 12 honors.

“I’m just glad I could come back from a fall and do well for the team,” Anson said. “It’s never fun to fall, but it’s always great when you can come back.”

Though Kindler said the team is content with its finish, the coming weeks’ practices will focus on solid beam performances and managing nerves in the beginning rotations.

The Cyclones have two weeks to train for the NCAA Regional competition, where they have secured a No. 2 seed in one of the nation’s six regional championships on April 9 at a location that hadn’t been determined as of late Sunday.