BATON ROUGE — The 12th-ranked LSU gymnastics team continues its SEC slate this Friday when it travels to Auburn, Ala., for dual meet with No. 11 Auburn. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. from AU’s Beard-Eaves Coliseum.
A live audiocast of the meet will be available online at www.LSUsports.net to members of the GeauxZone. Veteran sports announcer Lyn Rollins will handle the meet’s play-by-play duties while former Tiger All-American Kelly Lea and Jewel Pollock will provide analysis.
In addition, the meet will be televised regionally by FOX Sports Net on a tape delay basis. The broadcast is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 24 at 1 p.m. (CT).
The Tigers improved to 6-4 overall and 2-1 in the SEC following a convincing 195.575-194.425 win over Kentucky last week.
Head coach D-D Breaux was pleased with the Tigers’ performance on three events ? the vault, bars and floor ? against the Wildcats, but was not satisfied with her team’s effort on the beam, an event where the Tigers have struggled with consistency all season.
In an effort to find that consistency Breaux said her team has been performing more reps of their missed skills, while also practicing their mental approach towards the event this week.
“We are going to stay positive, stern in our approach and find six or seven athletes that really want to be in that lineup,” said Breaux.
A solid six performances will be needed on the beam for the Tigers to continue their conference winning streak.
Auburn is 4-3 on the season and 1-2 in SEC action. The Tigers will come into the meet well rested as their last competition was a 197.650-195.625 loss to top-ranked Florida on Feb. 2.
“Auburn is ranked ahead of us. We feel we are a better team than our ranking shows, but beam or one event here and there has held us down,” said Breaux. “We know it is going to take a good performance to beat a very solid Auburn team.”
History lies on the side of the Bayou Bengals as LSU holds a 54-10 all-time series advantage over Auburn, a mark that includes a 9-3 record on the road.
LSU took two of the three meetings against AU last year, coming out on top at the season-opening Super Six Challenge and the SEC Championships, while Auburn was victorious at the regular season dual meet in Baton Rouge.
Following the Auburn meet, LSU returns to Baton Rouge where it will host top-ranked Florida on Friday, Feb. 23, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center beginning at 7 p.m.