MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team remains on the road this week, as the squad heads to Ames, Iowa, for its final Big 12 Conference meet of the season against No. 24 Iowa State on Monday, March 1.
 
Monday's meet is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET, inside the Hilton Coliseum, and will be carried live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, the conference's digital platform.
 
Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $5.99 a month (or $59.99 per year) at ESPNplus.com, ESPN.com or on the ESPN App (mobile and connected devices). It also is available as part of The Disney Bundle offer that gives subscribers access to Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu (ad-supported) — all for just $12.99/month.
 
Direct links to the video stream and live stats can be found on the gymnastics schedule page at WVUsports.com.
 
"We're at the midpoint of our season," Mountaineer coach Jason Butts said. "The season continues to feel weird just with COVID, the way it started and the way it has progressed, but we have three opportunities left to go out and get a road score. We would love to wrap up Big 12 competition with a win over Iowa State, and this team is absolutely capable of doing it. I think we showed it this past weekend at Denver, where we were able to take two events there, and honestly, we gave away the other two events in deductions.
 
"That has been our focused this week, and I want to see that fine-tuned machine that I see every day in practice come Monday. I want to see it at competition. I need to see it come out on the road. That will be big for our rankings and big for our confidence, so we're going to go into Monday being aggressive. We have not set the lineups completely, but we know where everyone is at and what they are capable of. We are going to be aggressive with it on Monday."
 
The Mountaineers (0-5, 0-5) are looking for their first conference regular season win since Feb. 26, 2017, when West Virginia defeated Iowa State (2-2, 2-1) by a score of 195.95-195.725, in Morgantown. WVU is 6-12-1 all-time against ISU.
 
The two squads met earlier this month, with Iowa State earning the 196.125-195.175 victory on Feb. 7, at the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown. The Mountaineers finished second to the Cyclones on every event but floor exercise and ended the meet with seven podium finishes, including a tie for first on two events. Junior Kendra Combs and ISU's Maddie Diab tied for first overall on floor with matching 9.9s. Additionally, sophomore Kianna Yancey and ISU's Meixi Semple tied for first overall on balance beam with matching 9.85s.
 
WVU returns to competition this week following a 196.550-195.350 loss to No. 9-ranked Denver on Feb. 21, inside Magness Arena, in Denver, Colorado. Despite the team loss, the Mountaineers hit 23-for-24 routines to split the event titles with the Pioneers, finishing first on beam (49.175-49.125) and floor (49.250-49.050). The Pioneers earned the vault (49.100-48.475) and uneven bars (49.275-48.450) team victories.
 
Of note, WVU's beam and floor scores set last week were good for season highs. The Mountaineers have now totaled 49.0 or better on floor in every meet but one this season. West Virginia finished competition at Denver with four podium finishes, including a winning performance on floor and a tie for first overall on beam. Combs tallied a matching career-high score of 9.9 on floor for the event win. Additionally, freshman Chloe Asper tied for first overall on beam with a personal-best mark of 9.9.
 
Asper was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for her efforts on Feb. 23. The Hanover, Pennsylvania, native appeared in the beam lineup for just the second time this season and bested her previous mark of 9.8 set in her debut against Denver on Feb. 11. Of note, Asper owns the seventh-highest beam average in the Big 12 with a 9.85. She also is tied at No. 38 nationally.
 
In this week's Road to Nationals Rankings, the Mountaineers moved up one spot to No. 19 on floor thanks to a 49.100 season average. WVU sits just outside the top 25 on beam, moving up two spots to No. 26 with a season average of 48.815. WVU also sits at No. 36 on bars (48.540 avg.) and No. 40 on vault (48.665 avg.).
 
Additionally, the Mountaineers come in at No. 32 (195.120 avg.) nationally despite improving their overall season average.
 
The Cyclones rank No. 24 nationally with a season average of 195.388. ISU is coming off a 194.150-193.875 loss at Illinois State on Feb. 21. Junior Addy De Jesus, the reigning Big 12 Gymnast of the Week, picked up event titles on floor, vault and beam last weekend, as well as her second-highest all-around score of the season.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.