After trailing following the second rotation, the No. 2 LSU gymnastics team completed the 196.600-195.600 comeback against Kentucky, while defeating No. 20 Arizona State, 196.600-194.400, Friday night at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.
Senior all-arounder Jessie Jordan led the Tigers’ (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) effort with her second straight all-around title. The reigning SEC gymnast of the week defended her No. 1 all-around score in the nation by scoring a 39.525.
“I had a lot of great routines and teammates that went ahead of me and that’s what really pushed my score to be so high,” Jordan said. “We had a good night; I am proud of my team.”
LSU began the meet on bars with a 49.075, where senior all-arounder Rheagan Courville scored a team-best 9.900 in the anchor spot. Kentucky (2-1, 0-1 SEC) narrowly trailed LSU after it scored a 48.950 on vault, while Arizona State (1-2) scored a 48.175 on beam.
The Tigers took a step back on beam in the second rotation, scoring a 48.975 after earning only two scores of 9.800 or better. The misfires helped the Wildcats take the lead after the second rotation at 98.100-98.050.
“The format of this competition was really slow,” said LSU coach D-D Breaux. “We weren’t able to create a rhythm; we couldn’t get any momentum going.”
But LSU went back to its roots in the third rotation on the floor, where it retook the lead and never looked back. Senior Lloimincia Hall anchored the rotation by scoring a 9.950, and the other three gymnasts scored at or above 9.850.
Junior Jessica Savona and sophomore Ashleigh Gnat started the rally by scoring a 9.850 and 9.875, respectively, and Jordan tied her career high of 9.925.
“We went to floor at the turning point of the meet and I told them, ‘We are the Fighting Tigers, go out there and fight,’” Breaux said. “They turned on the energy, competed like champions and did a terrific job of entertaining the crowd with their floor routines.”
With the lead going into the fourth rotation, Jordan started a chain reaction of 9.850 scores on vault. LSU totalled 49.250 after the five routines but still needed outside help to secure victory.
Needing to outscore LSU by more than four tenths of a point to secure victory, Kentucky failed to score higher than a 9.775 on the floor, conceding victory to the Tigers by one point.
Arizona State finished the night with its highest score in any event with a 48.875 on bars, but miscues in the previous three events proved too much to overcome.
Despite its victory, LSU broke its 14-meet streak of scoring more than a 197.
The Tigers will be back in action against SEC foe Missouri (2-1, SEC 0-1) at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23 in the PMAC.