The No. 3 LSU gymnastics squad (7-3, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) finished its 4-meet road swing with another huge score, but it wasn’t enough to topple defending champion No. 2 Florida (7-0, 5-0 SEC) in the O’Connell Center Friday night.
The Tigers fell to the Gators by the final score of 198.125-197.625. For LSU, it marks the sixth consecutive week the squad has posted a score of 197 or better, two shy of the program record set back in 2004.
Despite another high road score for the squad, the loss stung LSU coach D-D Breaux. But the veteran coach was still impressed by her squad’s ability to compete against a championship team in a hostile environment.
“I’m really disappointed we didn’t win because we wanted to beat this team on the road,” Breaux said. “But what a tremendous effort? Once again, we pushed a team to go 198 to beat us and [Florida] had to have record performances to do it.”
The Tigers were  led junior all-arounder Rheagan Courville, who entered the meet with five all-around titles this season. The reigning SEC Gymnast of the Week finished with an all-around score of 39.675 to finish second to Florida’s Bridget Sloan.
Junior Jessie Jordan also gave her squad another standout performance, as the Texas native posted a 39.550 in the all-around to set a career high.
The Tigers came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, racing to a 98.975-98.925 lead halfway through the meet.
The night began on the uneven bars, with Courville and senior Sarie Morrison leading the way. Both gymnasts posted matching scores of 9.950 to tie for the bars title. It was the first of the season for Courville and the sixth for Morrison, who is also LSU’s career leader in bars titles. The Tigers finished with a 49.425 in the event.
On vault, LSU posted a 49.550. Courville and Jordan narrowly missed out on a share of the title with scores of 9.950. Florida’s Kytra Hunter claimed the title with a perfect 10.0.
The third rotation is where things got dicey for the Tigers, as they took to the floor exercise. Entering the meet, LSU was the No. 2 ranked floor team in the nation, trailing only Utah. But the Tigers had only one gymnast post at least a 9.9. Junior Lloimincia Hall scored a 9.925 on her renown routine to tie for third. 
It was only the second time this season LSU failed to have multiple gymnasts post a 9.9 on floor. The squad finished the routine with a 49.425, and Florida’s beam score of 49.550 gave the defending champions the lead heading into the final rotation of the night.
The Tigers ended the night on beam, with a score of 49.225. Courville and Jordan led the squad in the event, with scores of 9.900 and 9.925, respectively.
After 4 consecutive meets on the road, LSU will begin a three-week home stand next Friday when SEC foe Missouri comes to town.