The LSU Tigers Gymnastics team traveled to Fort Worth, Texas for the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers faced off with the Utah Utes, UCLA Bruins and Michigan State Spartans with a trip to the National Championship on the line.

True freshman Lexi Zeiss led the meet off for the Tigers, who began their night on the uneven bars. You'd never have guessed she was a freshman if you watched her routine, which earned a 9.9000. In the semifinals and finals, six judges score each routine with the highest and lowest being dropped, so the scores go to four decimal places instead of three.

Ashley Cowan and Kailin Chio went second and third a struggled a bit, earning a 9.8125 and 9.8250 respectively. Aleah Finnegan went fourth and matched her regional final bar score of 9.8500.

Konnor McClain went fifth on bars and absolutely stuck her landing, but some minor mistakes throughout the routine caused some deductions. She still finished with a 9.8750, though. As always, she was followed by Haleigh Bryant, who anchored the event with a 9.8750. Really puts into perspective how good Zeiss's routine was.

Across the board, scores were a bit lower than normal. Whether that's because of nerves or the fact that six judges score each event, I don't know, but despite some lower than average scores, the Tigers were still in the thick of it in the first rotation.

Sierra Ballard got the second rotation with a 9.8750 before Kylie Coen, who had a pretty big balance check on her landing, could only manage a 9.800 in the two spot. Luckily, Kailin Chio came back with a 9.8750 of her own to help keep pace with the other teams.

Konnor McClain went fourth and was able to give the Tigers their first 9.9000 since Lexi Zeiss's opening routine after a very strong routine. With a lot of other big scores going up all around them, the Tigers needed a strong finish from Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan. Bryant delivered with a 9.875, but Finnegan fell on her routine and earned a 9.2250, meaning LSU counted Coen's 9.8000.

Bad news: LSU found themselves in last after two rotations.

Good news: their two best events - floor and vault - were their final two rotations.

Konnor McClain led off on floor and all was going well, but she was a bit flat on her second pass and took a slight deduction, which gave her a 9.8625. Sierra Ballard also put together a pretty strong routine, earning a 9.8250, but still wasn't that big score they desperately needed.

Kailin Chio went third and had a really strong routine that earned a 9.8875, which I thought was a bit underscored. Thought it easily could've been a 9.9000. Amari Drayton followed her and finally got the Tigers into the 9.9s with a 9.9000.

When LSU needed it most, their two seniors delivered. Aleah Finnegan (9.9375) and Haleigh Bryant (9.9125) earn LSU's two highest scores of the night and launched the Tigers into second place with one rotation to go.

Heading into the final rotation, LSU found themselves in second place, leading Utah by .0375 and MSU by .1500. LSU made their way to vault while Utah moved to bars and MSU to floor.

KJ Johnson led off on vault, and for the first time in forever, she couldn't stick her landing and took a slight hop, earning a 9.8375. On the other side, Utah put up a big 9.9125 with their leadoff on bars.

Freshman Lexi Zeiss went next in her second routine of the night. It was a long break from leading off on bars to going second on vault, and she couldn't stick her landing either, taking a step forward as received a 9.8000. Utah's two spot matched Zeiss's 9.8000.

Aleah Finnegan went third, and like the first two, she couldn't stick her landing either. She also took a step forward on her landing, which cost her over a tenth as she earned a 9.8500. Utah's Avery Neff earned a big 9.9250 to put them in the drivers seat for second.

With three gymnasts to go, LSU needed some massive scores from Amari Drayton, Kailin Chio and Haleigh Bryant. No team had been able to figure out their landings on vault all night, which did not bode well for the Tigers.

Amari Drayton was the next one up and had what looked like a beautiful vault, but she took the slightest hop on her landing and one of her feet came up a bit and she received a 9.8125 for her efforts. Utah continued to build their lead with a 9.9125.

With two gymnasts to go, LSU needed a big mistake from UCLA on beam. Their leadoff could only earn a 9.6875, so another mistake would cause them to count that score and could boost the Tigers into second place.

LSU's freshman phenom was the only Tiger who could get a stick on vault, and it came at the perfect time. The Tigers desperately needed a big score, and Chio posted a 9.9750, bringing Haleigh Bryant to the plate. LSU's superstar senior couldn't get the stick, but her vault was good enough to earn a 9.9000, giving the Tigers a 49.3750 on vault. With Utah firmly in, the Tigers needed UCLA's Emma Malabuyo to make a big mistake in order to advance, but their anchor didn't skip a beat and eliminated the Tigers with a 9.9750.

A shocking result for the Tigers, who were the favorites to win it all. Now, they'll lose a ton of talent such as Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan. They'll have to reload if they want to get back to the National Championship next year.