For the first time since President Barack Obama took office, and Justin Bieber became every tween’s dream, the Michigan women’s gymnastics team lost at Crisler Arena.

On Sunday, after two consecutive years of home perfection, No. 2 Stanford handed the Wolverines their first home loss.

Despite eclipsing their season average and coming just three-tenths shy of their season high, the eighth-ranked Wolverines (4-1 Big Ten, 10-2 overall) placed second in a battle of three top-10 squads, scoring 196.5, beating No. 9 Nebraska (3-1 Big 12, 4-6), but falling short to the undefeated Cardinal (9-0 Pac-10, 13-0) with 196.8.

With a slim .125 lead headed into their floor routines, the final rotation, the Wolverines were unable to fend off the Cardinal, who overtook them on bars. Michigan’s younger players struggled under the pressure, and despite a 9.9 from senior captain Kylee Botterman and a 9.85 from redshirt senior Sarah Curtis, Michigan tied its second-lowest point total on floor with a 48.9.

“The thing that’s frustrating is that we had Stanford beat and then we didn’t close the door on them in the last event,” Michigan coach Bev Plocki said after the meet. “We made some silly mistakes over there and we let them get back into the competition and beat us. It’s frustrating, sometimes when you are ‘the underdog,’ and you’ve got the other team beat. It’s the kiss of death to say all we have to do is hit because then everybody, they go out and try not to make mistakes versus trying to go and there and just do a routine.”

Michigan started the competition with its strongest vault and bars performances of the year. Leading Michigan to its hot start was Botterman, who became the first gymnast in the country this season to score a 10.0 on any event with her flawless vault. Botterman went on to win her sixth individual title this season through six meets.

Michigan’s best bars score this season was aided by the return of sophomore Brittnee Martinez and just the second event this season for senior Trish Wilson, who matched a career-high on bars with a 9.925.

“It was just great to be back at home and have the home crowd cheering for you, Wilson said. “So it was a very exciting meet.”

Despite its season-best start, Michigan couldn’t match the consistency of Stanford, struggling on balance beam and floor. Despite the disappointment, Plocki found the loss to be part of a learning process for her younger gymnasts.

“I think we learned a lesson today,” Plocki said. “We talked about the fact that we need to be able to finish, we had a great meet going, we had three really good events … it would have been really nice to come away today with a win over Stanford and Nebraska, but you got to look at the positive things and this is going to help us.”