Win streak ends in Denver
The eighth-ranked LSU gymnastics team had a “rocky” performance Saturday, dropping the meet to 15th-ranked Denver 196.050-195.825.
LSU had a slight margin heading into the final rotation, but eventually lost out due to a fall on the beam and a nearly perfect floor performance from Denver.
The beam, which LSU head coach D-D Breaux realized would be the catalyst in the meet, proved nothing less as it cost the squad the competition.
“We knew we had to hit on the beam if we wanted to win and we came up just short,” Breaux said. “Overall, it was a great road effort for us. I’m pleased for the most part, that’s a very good score for us. If you want to win on the road against a Top 15 team like this, however, you can’t make mistakes and we made one that cost us. But all in all it was a great away meet for us.”
Despite the loss, Breaux was happy with the way her team came out strong at the start of the meet, which she had noticed was a problem in the previous weeks and tried to rectify it.
The Tigers responded to Breaux’s advice with solid outings with a season-high road scores of 49.175 on the vault and 49.225 bars to build a distinct lead after the first two rotations.
Regardless of the lead the Tigers placed themselves in, it was not enough to hold off Denver as it battled back with a score of 49.075 on the beam while LSU managed only a 48.875 on the floor in the third rotation.
With a .425 lead heading into the beam, LSU relinquished the possibility of a fall in the event and still winning the meet.
The Tigers came close with Lauren Companioni opening with a 9.85 followed by Lindsay Beddow and Beth Boudreaux both posting scores of 9.825. But a fall in the second spot from Jade Jenkins and a final fall from Rebecca Lightsey gave the Tigers too many falls to contend.
“It bothered me on the beam,” Breaux said. “I knew that whatever team could hit the beam would win the meet.”
Despite the loss, LSU retained its spot as No. 8 in the nation which marks the team’s fifth straight week in the Top 10 in the nation.
The Tigers also retained their Top 20 ranking in all four disciplines being No. 5 in the vault, No. 9 in both the floor and bars and No. 12 on the beam.
The Tigers return to action at home as they host No. 21 Iowa on Friday at 7 p.m. in the PMAC.
“We’re looking forward to Iowa,” Breaux said. “We get to see Larissa Libby who was an assistant here and we’re all pretty excited about that.We actually recruited some of their kids so it should be interesting. They are in the Top 25 so they’ll give us a challenge.”
Before joining the Hawkeyes, Libby served as the assistant women’s coach at LSU for four years. While at LSU, she produced nine beam All-Americans, the top-ranked beam team in 1989 and helped coach LSU to four consecutive NCAA Championships team appearances.
Patrick Foy