After an impressive performance on Friday at the Pete Maravich Center, where the No. 2 LSU Gymnastics had their highest score of the year (198.325), Ashley Cowan, Amari Drayton, and Kylie Coen spoke to the media as they are preparing for what could be their toughest matchup of the regular season, in Norman, where they will face the No. 1 Sooners on Friday night.

The team understands how important the result from last Friday is for the remainder of their season.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations just as a team as to what we can improve on and how we can build off that performance on Friday. So we’re really just working in the gym to be intentional, try to do our best, and be confident when we go out there and play gymnastics this Friday,” said Ashley Cowan.

The Tigers are well focused on their mantra of only thinking about the next five minutes ahead of them as they prepare to compete against the best team in the country.

“I would say it’s just another week. It doesn’t matter who’s on the floor with us. It’s just LSU going to compete like every single week. We are not going to train harder or less for whoever’s on the floor with us,” added Kylie Coen.

Despite them continuing the same preparation, they do understand what this Friday means for college gymnastics.

“This meet is going to be huge for the sport. I mean, you don’t get to see one and two out on the floor very often. So we’re going to do our best so that we can just be us and use this momentum for the postseason.”

LSU has really focused on trying to maintain their high scores when competing at other SEC schools. This could be a great opportunity to show their improvement after a shaky meet at Georgia in January.

“We are going into enemy territory, you could say, but we’re still going to be able to use that energy, even if it’s not necessarily for us, to push us to be our best on Friday,” added Cowan.

The team is preparing mentally as they are almost halfway through their season.

“Intention has been one of the big things that we focus on this year because we know the talent’s there, we know the hard work is there, so is just about making sure every turn counts, and the quality is something that will propel us moving forward.” (Cowan)

The No. 2 LSU Tigers and the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners will compete on Friday, in Norman, Oklahoma, at 8:00 p.m., and you can watch them on ESPN2.