The No. 2 LSU Tigers hosted the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners in what was arguably the biggest regular season meet in program history. The defending champs versus the No. 1 team in the country who's won six championships in the past 10 years. Needless to say, this was a big one.
The Tigers got the night started on vault while the Sooners hit the uneven bars. As always, KJ Johnson led the night off and earned a 9.875 to get the meet started. Aleah Finnegan followed her up with the same score after taking a slight step forward on her landing.
True freshman Kaliya Lincoln was taken off vault and inserted on the floor lineup last week, but she got back in the vault lineup tonight and delivered with a massive 9.950. I don't know where the deduction was because that was virtually flawless.
After Amari Drayton earned a 9.875 in the four spot, true freshman Kailin Chio and senior Haleigh Bryant both delivered massive scores of 9.950 to give LSU their best vault score of the season with a 49.600. The Tigers' 49.600 matches Michigan State for the best overall beam score in the country this season.
After one rotation, LSU led the Sooners, 49.600-49.425.
After an incredible vault rotation, the Tigers moved to the uneven bars for their second event of the night.
Lexi Zeiss got the leadoff role on the uneven bars once again for LSU and delivered with (an underscored) 9.875, which set a new career-high. She was followed by Ashley Cowan, who took a small step on her landing, but still earned a 9.825.
After Alexis Jeffrey earned a 9.800, Kailin Chio needed to get a massive score to keep up with Oklahoma, who had just scored a 9.975 on vault. Thankfully, she delivered with a 9.900. Aleah Finnegan and Konnor McClain closed out the rotation with a 9.850 and 9.800 (which was criminally underscored) respectively.
After a lackluster bar rotation from the Tigers, the Sooners caught back up and tied the meet at 98.850 at the halfway point.
The Tigers moved to the balance beam while the Sooners moved to the floor for the third rotation. If LSU could find a way to keep this meet close through the third rotation, they would feel really good about their chances moving to floor.
LSU needed a massive beam rotation to stay in this thing, and they got one. Sierra Ballard led things off with a beautiful routine which earned her a 9.950. Sophomore beam specialist Kylie Coen then followed her up with a 9.875.
It was the heart of their lineup that did the most damage. Kailin Chio and Konnor McClain both put together two of their best beam performances of the season, earning a pair of 9.925s.
Unfortunately, Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan had some slip ups in their routines and earned a 9.825 and 9.700 respectively, but it was still enough for LSU to post a team score of 49.500 and keep within .075 of the Sooners.
Heading into the final rotation, LSU trailed the Sooners by less than a tenth as they moved to floor and the Sooners to beam. The Tigers came into tonight averaging a 49.342 on floor while the Sooners averaged a 49.408 on beam, so the odds were not in the Tigers favor.
However, Kaliya Lincoln came through huge in the leadoff spot with a 9.925, which was a full tenth higher than OU's 9.825 on beam, meaning LSU held a 0.025 lead through one performance.
Sierra Ballard - the Tigers' usual leadoff - went second on floor and followed up a 9.525 on beam for the Sooners with a 9.925 of her own, giving LSU a massive advantage with four gymnasts left to perform.
Oklahoma finally put a big score on the board on beam with a 9.900, but Kailin Chio said quickly responded with a 9.950 in the three spot. The Sooners' struggles on beam continued as Jordan Bowers could only put a 9.850 on the board. On the other side of the floor, the Tigers just kept on rolling with a 9.950 from Amari Drayton.
After Oklahoma's Lily Pederson scored a 9.775 in the five spot, this meet was all wrapped up for the Tigers, who finished with a 9.800 and 9.950 from Aleah Finnegan and Haleigh Bryant respectively to secure the upset victory.
The Tigers put together their best performance of the season when they needed it most and shocked the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners, 198.050-197.675. With the win, the Tigers moved to first place in the SEC.
Here were your final scores from tonight.
