BATON ROUGE – The 10th-ranked LSU gymnastics team has produced three-straight 196-plus scores, and the Tigers will look to carry that momentum to Athens, Ga., when LSU takes on No. 5 Georgia at 6:30 p.m. CT Friday in Stegeman Coliseum.
LSU (5-3-1, 2-2-1 Southeastern Conference) is coming off a rare tie with a 196.200 performance at Arkansas, and Georgia returns to Athens after falling 197.250-197.150 at Florida last week.
“We have had a great two weeks of preparation in practice, and we had a good meet at Arkansas last week,” head coach D-D Breaux said. “We feel we have improved every day we practice, and we are excited about going to Athens because we feel more ready to compete now than we have all season long.”
Even though the meet at Arkansas ended in a tie, LSU produced a season-high road score and saw the emergence of freshman Ericka Garcia in three lineups.
With the added depth, the Tigers only competed one all-arounder – No. 1 ranked Susan Jackson – and allowed senior all-arounders Sabrina Franceschelli and Summer Hubbard and senior Kayla Rogers to each rest from one event.
LSU is seeking its first win in a dual meet at Georgia since 1983, and the Tigers will bring momentum into Friday’s meet after showing steady improvement since beating No. 1 Alabama on Feb. 5.
As a team, LSU has produced a 49.000 or higher in 10 of 12 events during the last three meets, including two season-high event scores on bars (49.325) and beam (49.225) against Texas Woman’s on Feb. 12.
Hubbard, a two-time All-American on bars, jumped into the bars rankings this week at No. 21 with a 9.825 regional qualifying score.
Freshman Shelby Prunty has also stepped up her performances on beam as she has posted back-to-back season-high 9.80 scores from the leadoff spot.
Georgia (3-4, 2-3) is under first-year head coach Jay Clark, and the five-time defending national champions have recently hit a hot streak with three-straight team scores of 196.725 or better.
The Bulldogs feature a balanced lineup as no gymnast competed in the all-around for Georgia last week.
Several Bulldogs rank in the top 25 nationally in events, led by senior Courtney McCool who sits atop the floor standings with a 9.915 RQS. Senior Grace Taylor ranks second on beam with a 9.895 RQS, and sophomore Kat Ding is sixth on bars with a 9.875 RQS.
LSU will look to snap Georgia’s 31-meet unbeaten streak at home that dates back to the 2005 season. Georgia’s last home loss came to Alabama on Feb. 18, 2005.
The meet will be televised on a tape delay basis by ESPN2, and the first air date is set for March 7 at 2 p.m.
Tiger fans can catch live audio of the meet in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net, and fans can receive live updates of the meet by following LSU gymnastics on www.twitter.com/lsugym.