BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 7 Alabama gymnastics team upset No. 6 LSU on its home floor, 196.775-196.425 on Friday night.
It marked Alabama’s first win at LSU since 2013.
Junior Lexi Graber led the way, scoring a season-best 39.475 in the all-around, including a 9.900 on the floor exercise and 9.875 on the balance beam to clinch the meet for the Crimson Tide. Freshmen Makarri Doggette and Luisa Blanco gave Alabama a big spark on the night. Doggette went 9.875 on the uneven bars and a career-best 9.950 on the floor exercise, while Blanco helped close out the meet and the Tigers with a 9.900 on the balance beam.
“Tonight was absolutely a 100% team effort. Our ladies fought event by event and routine by routine within every performance,” Alabama coach Dana Duckworth said. “They had an opportunity, starting strong and ending with an intensity that will only help us continue to build confidence. The environment was intense, and I was really proud of the way we stayed in the ‘Bama bubble’ and focused on what we needed to do to close out this meet. This was a great step for us to finish like this under pressure on balance beam. The best part is we still have so much room for improvement and our ladies know it and are determined to put in the work to continue to build the character of this team.”
Alabama outscored the Tigers on the vault (49.025-48.750), uneven bars (49.300-49.250) and floor exercise (49.325-49.175) to roll up the win.
The Crimson Tide started off the meet on the uneven bars, scoring a 49.300 behind matching 9.875s from senior Shea Mahoney, Graber and Doggette.
Mahoney paced Alabama to a 49.025 on the vault with a 9.850 from the lead-off position.
Doggette unleashed a huge, career-best 9.950, followed by a 9.900 from Graber to push the Tide to a 49.325 on the floor exercise, matching its season high Alabama closed with a 49.125 on the balance beam, with Blanco and Graber finishing off the rotation with a 9.900 and 9.875, respectively.
