GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Two of the nation's leading team scores were posted in a top-10 matchup between Florida and LSU Friday in front of a Stephen C. O'Connell Center crowd of 7,129. The visiting Tigers nipped the Gators by 0.025 - the slenderest margin in the sport – to take a 197.900-197.875 win.
The loss marks the first for the Gators in regular-season home action since Jan. 18, 2008 to Georgia, which also was decided by 0.025.
It was a tight meet from the beginning. The teams were tied at the midway point. The 0.025 advantage the Gators held going into the final rotation was the winning margin for LSU at the end.
Of the 99 all-time meetings between the two programs, this was the 11
th (and second consecutive) that was decided by a tenth of a point or less.
LSU's total is its season best and shares the nation's third-highest total of 2016. Florida's total stands No. 5 in the nation.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCESFlorida won at least a share of three event titles Friday. Senior
Bridgette Caquatto won her second consecutive uneven bars title, scoring 9.925. Freshman
Alicia Boren and sophomore
Alex McMurtry shared the balance beam title with LSU's Ashleigh Gnat at 9.95. The mark set a career-high for Boren and tied McMurtry's collegiate best for the third consecutive meet.
Sophomore Kennedy Baker won her second consecutive all-around title. Tonight's total of 39.625 is just off her collegiate-best of 39.65 set earlier this season.Gnat also used marks of 9.95 to take the vault and floor titles.
For the second week in a row, sophomore
Kennedy Baker claimed the all-around title. Her 39.625 is just off her collegiate best of 39.65 set earlier this season. Boren took second with a collegiate-best 39.60 while LSU's Myia Hambrick was third at 39.525.
Although the Gators counted no falls toward its team total, two event anchors recorded misses –McMurtry (uneven bars) and
Bridget Sloan (balance beam). Florida did equal its season-best totals for vault (49.50) and balance beam (49.525).
GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES- Nine season and career-best scores were posted by Florida.
- That's three consecutive beam wins for McMurtry, all with collegiate-best marks of 9.95
- Caquatto takes her second-straight bars win and the fifth of her collegiate career
- Boren share of the beam win gives her five event titles in 2016 (two vault, beam, one all-around)
McMURTRY COMPETES ALL-AROUNDMcMurtry competed as an all-arounder for the first time in her collegiate career Friday, as she made her debut on floor. Her score of 9.90 equals the highest ever by a Gator making her floor debut as All-Americans
Kytra Hunter (2012) and
Alaina Johnson (2011) also turned in the same mark in their first floor performance.
It was McMurtry's first all-around performance since the 2014 Junior Olympic National Championships on May 9, 2014.
RECORDS: Florida (6-2, 4-2 SEC); LSU (9-2, 5-1 SEC).
THE SERIES: Florida leads 66-33.
This was the 10
th consecutive time that both teams brought a top-10 ranking into a meeting.
TUNE IN TO WATCH AGAIN:The Florida versus LSU meet re-airs on the following dates/times:
| Date | Time (ET) | Network |
| Feb. 27 | 5 a.m. | SEC Network |
| Feb. 28 | 7 p.m. | SEC Network |
| Feb. 29 | Noon | SEC Network |
| March 1 | Noon | SEC Network |
| March 1 | 2:30 p.m. | ESPNU |
The meet is also available on
WatchESPN for 30 days.
HEAR FROM THE GATORSOpening Statement:"Well, that stung a little bit. However, I think there was some good things that came from tonight. We made some mistakes, it's going to happen, but the girls picked it up to the best of their abilities. Everyone had each other's back. We didn't have to count a fall, but we had some mistakes on an event or two. The girls did a good job of covering up for each other. That's what we've been working on, and that's what the team is all about. We're going to get back in the gym and work hard. We'll work on those little details and get better." - Gator head coach
Jenny Rowland Take-away from tonight:"Fueling the fire, that's what gymnastics is all about. Wanting to win too. I think it'd be very unfortunate to walk away and just think 'it's fine.' We are competitors. Every single gymnast in the country is a competitor and especially anyone here at Florida. We don't go out there and want to get second, we go out there knowing that we are one of the best teams and that we can do it." – senior All-American
Bridget Sloan On her floor debut:"I was really, really excited to be competing on floor this week. I was so nervous; I think that was the most nervous I've ever been for a competition. With all my heart and everything in me, I wanted to make that routine. Luckily, tonight it worked out in my favor. I had a blast competing on floor. It's something that I've wanted to do since I got here to Florida. It's been about two years since I competed on floor. Tonight was really memorable. It wasn't the best meet of my life, but I wanted to make my floor routine and that's what I did. For the rest of the meet, my team had my back and that's what it was all about." –sophomore All-American
Alex McMurtry On the atmosphere in the O'Connell Center:"It was the best feeling in the world. Even when I was warming up, I had people cheering for me. It was great having Gator Nation behind me, and I had a lot of family here tonight. Everyone knew how special it was for me to have reached my goal and compete on floor. It gave me the power I needed to make it through my floor routine." – sophomore All-American
Alex McMurtry On tonight's performance:"Tonight was obviously not my best performance ever. I've been doing some overthinking lately and after the meet at Missouri it was me really overthinking. My goal for the next meet is going to be to go back to my old ways and just relax and let my body take over." – senior All-American
Bridget Sloan On the strong start of the meet:"I say sticking is contagious, and once one happens it just seems to continue on and on. That's what the team did. They did a great job of building off of each other and seeing other go and knowing that they could stick as well. We had the best start to one of our home competitions that we've had all season long. It was great to see. There was some great highlights from tonight, and that was one of them. We're moving forward." – Gator head coach
Jenny Rowland National Rank:Florida – Florida is No. 2 in the Feb. 22
Road to Nationals rankings.
LSU – Tigers No. 7 in Feb. 22 rankings
UP NEXT:The Gators finish regular-season league action on March 4 at No. 22 Kentucky. Meet time is set for 7 p.m. ET in the
Memorial Coliseum.
The meet will stream on SEC Network +. It airs tape-delayed on ESPNU on March 7 at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Kentucky was at No. 9 Arkansas Friday, with the Razorbacks taking a 197.225 – 196.70 win the Barnhill Arena
No. 2 Florida versus No. 7 LSU
Final Team Totals |
| Feb. 26, 2016 – Stephen C. O'Connell Center (7,129) |
| Team | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| LSU | 49.550 | 49.325 | 49.575 | 49.450 | 197.900 |
| Florida | 49.500 | 49.375 | 49.525 | 49.475 | 197.875 |
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