In a sport where true victory is earned in perfect 10.0 increments, the ISU women’s gymnastics team is determined to prove that winning isn’t everything — it’s perfection that counts.

Continuing their quest for team perfection and a berth at the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships in April, the No. 6 Cyclones posted their highest team score of the season Saturday in a 196.975-195.175 triumph over No. 25 Minnesota in Minneapolis.

The meet went so well, head coach K.J. Kindler was left searching for words to describe the team’s success.

“It was just an all-around great performance,” Kindler said. “Everyone contributed and made it a huge team effort. There was a lot of energy in the building, and the team remained very cohesive and focused.”

Led by sophomore All-American Erin Dethloff, the Cyclones dominated the Golden Gophers all night, crowning team and individual champions on each event and sweeping the all-around competition. The meet marked the Cyclones’ seventh victory of the season, good for a 7-0 record.

Dethloff took charge of the evening, matching her career high of 39.60 to win the all-around competition. Her performances nearly swept all individual competitions, earning first place on the bars (9.875), beam (9.90), and floor (9.95) and second place on vault (9.875).

“Janet [Anson], Laura-Kay [Powell] and Erin all came through big in the all-around,” head coach K.J. Kindler said. She said consistent performances by the all-around competitors were critical to the team’s big score.

Anson and Powell’s outstanding performances in the all-around competition rounded out the Cyclone sweep of the competition, with the duo finishing second and third respectively (39.475, 39.375).

Anson won the vault competition with a 9.90, took fourth on beam (9.85) and fifth on floor (9.90). Powell captured third place on vault (9.825) and beam (9.875), and shared third place on bars with Anson (9.825).

The Cyclones came out strong on both bars and vault, winning five of the top six places in each event.

Kindler said there was a little bit of anguish after the meet when the team heard that its team total was only .025 under its season-long goal of 197.

“The team was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding, right,'” Kindler said. “It’s like someone was just dangling a 197 in front of them.”

Kindler said her gymnasts were more focused on their routines and fixing small aesthetic errors rather than the team score.

She said she felt that helped the team focus on the job they had to do.

“We’re very happy, regardless [of just missing the 197],” she said. “I’m confident that we’re going to hit it this season. This is the greatest start that any ISU team has ever had.

“They have greatly surpassed all expectations,” Kindler said.