The fifth-ranked ISU women’s gymnastics team hadn’t faced quite this type of pressure during its 4-0 start.

After small steps on vault and two falls on bars, the Cyclones were tied with No. 25 Denver at 97.575 midway through Friday’s competition.

Head coach K.J. Kindler said the biggest victory for Iowa State came on the beam, where the Cyclones responded to a season-worst performance on bars with a season-best performance on beam.

“You can tend to get nervous and hold back, maybe try not to lose the meet instead of trying to win the meet,” Kindler said.

Instead, the team attacked the nerve-wracking beam and turned out some of the best performances of the season, she said.

Several personal-best performances and the team rallies on the balance beam and floor exercises were the Cyclones’ responses to the halftime tie, leading to a 196.350-195.475 victory.

The beam team also had to overcome the loss of junior Susan Stock, who had the flu. Filling her position was junior Abigail Rechey, who returned to competition after a knee injury early in the season.

The Cyclones swept the event, with all team members scoring a 9.825 or better. Sophomore Laura-Kay Powell led the Cyclones with a career-high score of 9.925 to take first in the event, followed by sophomore Erin Dethloff (9.90) and senior Chee Chee Calina (9.875), who finished second and third, respectively.

Dethloff, the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week, said she knew the team had to maintain the level of confidence it has demonstrated all season to pull off the victory. After Iowa State’s commanding performance on beam, Dethloff said, she was able to go all-out in her floor routine.

Dethloff’s aggressiveness on floor was the exclamation point of a Cyclone sweep of the event, as she posted a score of 9.950. Dethloff was followed by three teammates — Powell, freshman Janet Anson and sophomore Krystal Carney — who all tied for second place on floor with scores of 9.875.

Despite shaky performances on bars and vault, Dethloff was still able to lead the Cyclones to success in those events, taking first place on the bars with a score of 9.875 and second on vault with a score of 9.850. Freshman Katie Lasher took second place on bars (9.850), and Anson won the vault competition (9.900).

Dethloff’s solid performances earned her the competition’s all-around title with a 39.575 total, her highest of the season. The win marks the second week in a row that Dethloff has won the all-around and broken her own season-high mark. Consistent performances also led Powell to a second place all-around finish with a score of 39.35.

Kindler said the ISU team will head back to the gym and continue to focus on sticking landings on all events, especially the bars.

“The things we were missing on bars were not our hardest skills,” Kindler said. “They were relatively simple skills that I wouldn’t expect them to miss. Things were a little bit fluky and unusual, and I don’t see that happening again.”

Kindler said landings will be the key factor March 5 when the Cyclones take on No. 2 Georgia in Athens, Ga. Iowa State’s next competition will be Saturday at Illinois in Champaign, Ill.