BATON ROUGE- The seventh-ranked LSU gymnastics team will face the No. 1 team in the nation for the second consecutive week on Friday night, as Alabama comes to the Maravich Assembly Center for a 7 p.m. tilt.
Last week the Tigers’ upset previous No. 1 Utah at the PMAC, LSU’s first victory ever against a top-ranked team.
Friday night’s meet marks the conclusion of a brutal three-week schedule that has seen the Tigers face three of the nation’s top four teams. Alabama enters with an 8-1 record and back-to-back 197-point showings against Georgia and Auburn last weekend, while the Tigers own a 5-1 record. Each team has a loss to Georgia on the year.
“I hope Friday night will be another emotional high for this team,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “We’re going to approach Friday night the same way we’ve approached the last two weeks. We’re hoping to carry the momentum of our performances of the last two weeks over to Friday night and that we’ll have a big crowd behind us to pull us through.”
The Tigers have not defeated the Tide in a dual meet since a victory in Baton Rouge in 1982, but have finished ahead of them at both the SEC and NCAA meets several times during that time period. This is a different Tiger team, however. LSU entered last weekend’s meet against Utah with an 0-20 record all-time against the visitors from Salt Lake City, but put an end to that streak.
The Tigers dropped a tough 197.825?196.475 decision to the Tide in Tuscaloosa, Ala., last year. The total was the highest ever for the Tigers on the road.
LSU will be led by SEC Gymnast of the week Shanyn MacEachern who won the all-around title in the Tigers’ thrilling victory over Utah last Friday. In addition, Beth Boudreaux and Abbey Burns have each registered at least one 9.90 in each of the Tigers’ last three meets.
Alabama is led by Andree’ Pickens, who leads the nation in the all-around with an average of 39.6875. Pickens ranks in the top ten in the nation in all four disciplines.
Last week the Tigers trailed entering the final rotation with LSU on the floor and Utah on the beam. The Tigers responded with all six gymnasts scoring a 9.80 or better.
If Friday’s meet comes down to a similar situation, the Tigers will need a similar performance. Alabama enters Friday’s showdown as the top-ranked team in the nation on the beam. The Tide is ranked in the top three in the nation in all four disciplines.
Following the Alabama meet, the Tigers travel to Denton, Texas for a three-way meet with Texas Woman’s University and Oklahoma on Feb. 12.