Perfection on Beam Not Enough for Alabama Gymnastics to Beat LSU

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — On a night with a lot of highs, from event to individual routines, Alabama did not come away with the ultimate high of the win Friday.

LSU put up big scores on its final three rotations to beat the Crimson Tide 197.975-197.925 inside Coleman Coliseum. Alabama scored slightly higher on the final rotation, but the Tigers lead was large enough to hang on for the victory.

Crimson Tide head coach Ashley Johnston liked the way her team attacked the final two rotations on beam and floor, but felt like the first two rotations of vault and bars are where the Crimson Tide lost the meet.

Alabama had its lowest scores on vault (49.325) and bars (49.325) since the Auburn meet, but put up a season high on beam and the third highest floor score of the season (49.575.)

"Our team did such a good job on beam and floor of attacking it with that mindset of every tenth, every half-tenth counts," Johnston said. "I think where we need to grow is starting that way. We started a little bit small. We started kind of cautious. And that’s where we gave the most away was on vault and bars. So that’s the lesson in all this that we have to start strong.”

On the first two rotations, Alabama struggled to find stuck landings. But on both the balance beam and floor exercise, Alabama had four gymnasts score 9.9 or better, including a career high from Gabby Gladieux on floor with a 9.925.

The highlight of the night was the balance beam rotation, where Alabama put up its second highest score in program history with a 49.700. The event was capped by back-to-back perfect 10s from Lilly Hudson and Luisa Blanco. It was the second perfect 10 on beam of the season for Blanco and third of her career, but the first of any kind for Hudson.

"That feeling was indescribable," Hudson said after the meet. "The beam routine is one thing, it's exciting, but then that moment with your team, I will never forget that. And to go back-to-back with Luisa, that was just freaking awesome and shows what this team is made of."

There were several occasions throughout the meet where there would be a pretty large discrepancy between the two judges on a routine. For example, on Alabama's final rotation one judge gave Shania Adams a 9.9, but the other gave a 9.75, resulting in a 9.825 floor score. On beam, one judge gave Rachel Rybicki a 10 and the other a 9.8.

Instead of making excuses, Johnston says her team uses it as motivation to improve mistakes and deductions in practice.

"It’s close meets like this, they really fuel us for what we need to get back in the gym and work for," Johnston said. "Scoring is something that is outside of our control. And so while we might have questions about it, we ultimately have to work to be undeniable.

"If there is a score that we weren’t as pleased with, it means that we left something out there on the table, and we have to use that as fuel. We have to get back in the gym, be hungry and fight for every tenth so that we can be undeniable.”

LSU had a pair of perfect 10s of its own with Haleigh Bryant scoring a 10 on vault and Aleah Finnegan earning a perfect score on floor. Bryant's 10 on the vault pushed the Tigers to a 49.675 on the event, which helped them build up a lead after the second rotation.

Despite the loss head-to-head with LSU, the night was a net positive for the Crimson Tide when it comes to postseason positioning. Alabama put up its highest home score of the year and second highest score overall. The seeding for the NCAA tournament is based on scores, not win/loss record.

"Meets like this are fantastic for us as we prepare for postseason," Johnston said. "LSU is an incredible team. We have a really great team and have continued to build momentum and build on our scoring potential."

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