BATON ROUGE – The LSU Gymnastics team fell in its home opener Monday afternoon in the PMAC to the No. 1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners, 197.600-197.450.
The Tigers started off strong on vault, scoring a 49.325. Alyona Shchennikova and KJ both scored 9.875 to bolster the lineup. Haleigh Bryant finished the first rotation strong, scoring a 9.925.
In the second rotation on bars, Aleah Finnegan scored a career-high 9.925 on bars as LSU scored a 49.450. Bryant scored a 9.90 and Shchennikova, Elena Arenas and Tori Tatum, who made her collegiate debut, all scored a 9.875.
LSU had a strong rotation on beam, scoring a 49.225 after Sierra Ballard led off with a 9.825. Bryant had a 9.95 and Arenas added a 9.875 as the Tigers went into the final rotation trailing the Sooners.
Ballard again led off strong on floor, scoring a 9.90 en route to a team score of 49.450 in the final rotation of the afternoon. Shchennikova added a 9.925, Finnegan had a 9.95 and Bryant finished with a 9.90 as LSU fell just short of the comeback effort. That score was enough to earn Bryant the All-Around title for the meet as she finished with a 39.675.
The Tigers will be back in action again this Friday as they host Missouri in the PMAC at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network.
(Recap via LSU Athletics)