Alabama Gymnastics Loses Power of Pink Meet to Auburn Despite Season-Best Score

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama had Coleman Coliseum roaring with season high scores on the final three rotations on the way to its best overall score of the season, but the deficit it put itself in on vault after the first rotation proved too large to overcome in Friday night's rivalry meet.

No. 11 Auburn also put up its best score of the season and beat No. 17 Alabama 197.750-197.350 in the Power of Pink meet. The Crimson Tide remains winless in SEC play, but scored almost three tenths higher than its previous best.

It is Auburn's first ever win in Coleman Coliseum.

"I'm proud of them that even after a first even that sort of felt like we got a flat tire, it's really tough in that moment to have a voice speak into the moment and overcome it," Alabama head coach Ashley Johnston said after the meet. "Really proud of this squad for doing that organically. Coach-led teams are good, and athlete-led teams are great. And I think in that moment, they showed that they could be great."

Alabama continued to improve as the meet went along, ending with a 49.600 on the floor exercised capped by back-to-back 9.95s from Lilly Hudson and Gabby Gladieux. All five scores the Crimson Tide counted on the event were a 9.9 or higher. Hudson won the all-around with a 39.625, and Gladieux finished second with a 39.550.

"This team is full of fighters," Hudson said. "I could just see it in everyone's eyes that we were not going to give up."

Auburn held a lead of over six tenths heading into the final rotation, so near perfection on the floor exercise wasn't enough. In order to come away with a win, Alabama needed the Tigers to count a fall on beam, but Auburn didn't have a single gymnast fall.

But as Alabama was heating up, the Tigers were just as hot. Auburn beat its season-best score by four-and-a-half tenths. Auburn led after every rotation and had the higher score in each rotation except for the last.

Alabama put itself in a big hole on the vault in the first rotation with a season low of 48.925. The Crimson Tide didn't have any falls, but had some major hops and only one stuck landing. Meanwhile, Auburn was posting a season high of 49.425 on the uneven bars.

In the second rotation, Alabama scored a 49.450 on the uneven bars paced by 9.9s from Ryan Fuller and Shania Adams, but Auburn was busy posting its best vault score of the season with a 49.450.

The Crimson Tide fought back and put up a valiant effort over the final three rotations, but it could never catch up to the Tigers. However, scoring a 197.350 shows a lot of improvement and provided a glimpse of the scoring potential of this Tide team if it hits on all four events.

"Had we just done a normal vault rotation, that would've hung with one of the top scores in the entire country," Johnston said. "We still came away with our season-best score, and so that was an incredible amount of progress. So we've got to stay focused on that, turn down anything that's going on on the outside, control what we can, and that's believing in our growth, believing in the process and continuing to not let the hard days win."

Alabama will travel to Arkansas next Friday in a meet that could determine who gets the eighth and final spot in the 2025 SEC championships.

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