TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 3 LSU Gymnastics team (5-2, 2-1 SEC) will face No. 14 Alabama (1-3, 0-3 SEC) in Coleman Coliseum on Friday, February 7 at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
“It was a great night last Friday but now it’s onto the next one. That’s what the message has been this week,” said head coach Jay Clark. “We have to be able to do well on the road and we haven’t shown that same level of confidence and ability on the road yet. Hopefully this week is the week that we can turn that corner and improve on what we’ve done on the road so far.”
The competition between the Tigers and the Tide will air nationally on ESPNU with John Roethlisberger and Sam Peszek on the call. Friday’s meet marks the second time that LSU will be featured across ESPN platforms this season.
Live stats and broadcast information for the meet can be found here.
Last Time On The Floor
The Tigers took down No. 9 Missouri (6-3, 1-2 SEC) by a score of 198.000-197.175 in front of a crowd of 13,082 fans last Friday night inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. LSU became only the second team in the 2025 season to notch the 198.000 mark.
The team score is the second highest by any team in 2025 and was powered by season-high performances on vault (49.550) and beam (49.550) from the home Tigers as well as tying the team’s season-high mark on bars (49.425). Freshman Kailin Chio claimed the first all-around title of her collegiate career with a career-high 39.650.
The meet opened with senior KJ Johnson setting the tone for rotation one as she scored a season-high 9.90 in her return to the vault lineup. The second spot saw senior Chase Brock match her season-high with a 9.925 before senior Aleah Finnegan added another 9.925 of her own in the third spot. Freshman Kaliya Lincoln kept it rolling with a career-high 9.925 in spot four ahead of sophomore Amari Drayton scoring a 9.750 in the fifth spot. Freshman Kailin Chio anchored the rotation with a 9.875 to bring the Tigers’ vault score to a season-high 49.550.
The Tigers 49.550 score on vault is currently the highest score by any team in the nation on the event thus far this season. After the first rotation, LSU led by a margin of 49.550-49.350.
LSU headed to the uneven bars for rotation two and was led off by freshman Lexi Zeiss, who scored a 9.85 in the opening spot. Junior Ashley Cowan scored a 9.85 in the second spot while senior Alexis Jeffrey hit a season-high 9.925 in spot three. Next, Chio scored a career-high 9.925 and was followed by Finnegan, who tallied a 9.80. Sophomore Konnor McClain wrapped up the rotation with a 9.875 to take the home Tigers’ score to a 49.425, which matched the team’s season-high.
With two rotations in the book, LSU held a 98.975-98.525 lead over Missouri.
Graduate student Sierra Ballard opened rotation three on beam by matching her season-high with a 9.875 score. A pair of career-highs followed with sophomore Kylie Coen scoring a 9.90 in the second spot, followed by a 9.95 for Chio in spot three. In the fourth spot, it was a season-high for McClain as she stuck the landing in a 9.95 effort. Senior Haleigh Bryant earned a 9.875 in spot five before Finnegan anchored with a 9.85 to bring the third rotation score to a strong 49.550.
The 49.550 beam rotation marked a season-high for the Tigers. LSU would move to the final rotation with a commanding lead of 148.525-147.850.
Ballard opened the floor rotation for LSU with a 9.850, followed by Brock matching her season-high with a 9.875 in the second spot. The third spot saw Chio score a 9.90 before Drayton posted her own 9.90 in spot four. Finnegan scored a 9.750 after narrowly stepping out on a pass before Bryant anchored the meet with a season-high 9.95. Bryant’s season-high score brought LSU’s rotation score to a 49.475.
The Tigers final score of 198.000 on the day is the second highest team score across the nation in 2025 and marks only the second time in program history that the Tigers scored a 198.000 or better in the month of January (LSU scored a 198.125 against Kentucky on January 19th, 2024).
LSU claimed at least a share in three of the four event titles. On vault, Brock, Finnegan and Lincoln share the top spot with Missouri’s Hannah Horton. The bars title was split by Chio, Jeffrey and Mara Titarsolej from Missouri. The floor title went to Bryant, who claimed the win with her 9.95 score.
Brock, Jeffrey and Lincoln took home their first titles of the year in tonight’s win, including the first of her career for Lincoln. Finnegan’s title was her 11th of the season and 34th in her career.
Chio moved her career total to six titles after claiming two against Missouri on bars and the all-around while Bryant notched her 96th career title and 16th on bars.
Scouting The Tide
Friday marks the two teams 87th meeting in the regular season. LSU is 33-102-2 in the all-time series against Alabama and are 6-26-0 when facing them on the road. The last time LSU and Alabama faced off was in 2024, when the Tigers recorded their highest score against Alabama, defeating them 198.325-197.325
LSU is 9-2 in their last 11 regular season competitions against Alabama, including winning their last three consecutive regular season meets over the Tide from 2022 to 2024.
Alabama enters the sixth week of competition ranked 14th in the nation with an average of 196.500 and a season high team score of 197.025 against North Carolina. As a team, the Tide sits at No. 9 on vault and No. 10 on uneven bars nationally.
The Tide are back at home this week after falling to No. 12 Georgia in their last meet by a score of 196.575-196.975 despite leading at the halfway mark and capturing multiple event titles.
The Crimson Tide posted its second-highest team score (196.575) and second-highest vault score of the season (49.125) against the Bulldogs last Friday.
Junior Gabby Gladieux leads the way for Alabama in the all-around as she is ranked No. 15 (39.406) in the country. Following her fourth event title of the season on the floor exercise, Gladieux leads the Central region and shares a top-five national ranking on the apparatus with a 9.925 average score.
Week Five Road To Nationals Rankings
LSU remains the No. 3 team in the nation following their 198 performance against No. 9 Missouri last week. The Tigers earned their way back into the top five across the board this week – first on vault, second on bars, fifth on beam and third on floor. The squad has placed in the top 10 on every event for all five weeks of regular season competition thus far.
No. 3 LSU improved their average to 197.420 following last week’s performance. Florida sits in second with an average of 197.456 behind the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners average of 197.730.
LSU has recorded some of the top event scores in the country through five meets, including the second highest vault score (49.550), third highest beam score (49.550) and third highest floor score (49.525). The squad enters week six with averages of 49.410 on vault, 49.360 on bars, 49.305 on beam and 49.345 on floor.
The duo of senior Aleah Finnegan and freshman Kailin Chio continue to lead the Tigers in the all-around, placing amongst the top gymnasts in the nation. Finnegan owns an average of 39.455 in the all-around this week, marking her fifth consecutive week in the top 10. Chio is ranked No. 26 in the all-around with her average of 39.285.
View the full Road To Nationals rankings here.
Key Returners in 2025
This year’s squad consists of 21 gymnasts and 15 returners: 10 seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen.
Haleigh Bryant, Olivia Dunne, Sierra Ballard, Chase Brock and Alyona Shchennikova all returned for their final seasons with the Tigers in 2025. Bryant, Dunne, Ballard and Brock are in their fifth-year season while Shchennikova is in her sixth-year.
Shchennikova is back this year after missing the 2024 season due to injury. She is an All-American on the uneven bars and will return veteran routines to the all-around. The Evergreen, Colorado native owns career high’s of 9.950 on vault and bars, 9.925 on beam, 9.975 on floor and 39.525 in the all-around.
Bryant, the 2024 NCAA All-Around Champion, AAI Award Winner and SEC Gymnast of the Year, is in her final season with the Tigers in 2025 after a historic senior season last year. She owns the program record all-around score (39.925) and career high’s of 10.00 across all four events, including the most perfect 10’s by any LSU gymnast (18).
A Louisiana native, Ballard is a veteran to the beam and floor lineup, where she owns career high’s of 9.950 and 9.925.
Dunne, a native of Hillsdale, New Jersey, played a vital role to the bars and floor lineups for LSU last season as she returned ready to go on three events. She owns career highs of 9.925 on bars and 9.900 on floor. Brock is a mainstay in the vault and floor lineups for the Tigers in her final season, where she owns career high’s of 9.975 and 9.925.
Other key returners for the 2025 season include Aleah Finnegan, KJ Johnson, Tori Tatum, Alexis Jeffrey, Ashley Cowan, Konnor McClain and Amari Drayton.
Finnegan, the 2024 NCAA Floor Champion, has been pivotal in the all-around for the Tigers this year so far. The senior owns career highs of 10’s on vault, beam and floor, 9.925 on bars and a 39.800 in the all-around.
Johnson competed in every meet on vault for the Tigers during their national championship run in 2024 and in all but one meet on floor. In her senior season, she is a veteran on vault and floor for LSU, owning career highs of 9.950 on vault and 9.975 on floor.
Cowan, Tatum and Jeffrey are all mainstays in the bars lineup for the Tigers and all own a career high of 9.950 on the event.
The duo of McClain and Drayton began their sophomore season after a prominent freshman year, where the two competed in every meet for the Tigers. McClain is currently impacting the bars and beam lineups, owning career highs of a perfect 10 on both events, while Drayton mainly competes on vault and floor for LSU. She owns career highs of 9.975 on vault and 9.925 on floor.
Kailin Chio, Kaliya Lincoln, Lexi Zeiss, Zoe Miller and Victoria Roberts make up this year’s freshman class.
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