Alabama
Florida
No. 9 Alabama Gymnastics Falls to No. 2 Florida, 197.325-196.475
2/15/2019 10:25:00 PM | Gymnastics
The Crimson closed the meet with a season-best 49.450 on the floor exercise, including career-best 9.95s from Lexi Graber and Shea Mahoney
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 9 Alabama gymnastics team fell to No. 2 Florida by a score of 197.325-196.475 Friday night in Coleman Coliseum in front of 12,828 pink-clad fans for the Crimson Tide's 15th-annual Power of Pink competition.
Trouble in the middle of its balance beam rotation put the Tide in an insurmountable hole, but Alabama fought to the end. Sophomore Lexi Graber followed a pair of beam falls with a 9.925 to win the event, tying her career-best mark in the process.
The Tide then closed out the meet with its best floor exercise rotation of the season, scoring a 49.450, spurred by twin career-best 9.95s from Graber and junior Shea Mahoney. Freshman Emily Gaskins posted a career-best of her own, going 9.875 on floor, bringing the Coliseum crowd to its feet in the process. Junior Maddie Desch opened the floor with a season-best 9.875.
"I pulled the team together at one point and said 'what matters is how we finish strong,'" UA head coach Dana Duckworth said. "We never gave up. We had some mistakes on every event, but we kept pushing and fighting."
To Mahoney, who volunteers at the DCH Manderson Cancer Center, the Crimson Tide's fight was inspired by the breast cancer survivors that Alabama Athletics' Power of Pink initiative seeks to honor.
"We had to fight a lot tonight – it didn't go exactly the way we wanted it to or the way we planned, but it made me think that these ladies' lives haven't gone exactly the way they planned either, but they never stopped fighting, so why would we?"
Alabama started the night with a 49.175 on the vault, led by matching 9.875s from seniors Abby Armbrecht and Ariana Guerra, with both tying their career-best marks.
Guerra went on to earn the win on the uneven bars by tying her career best of 9.9 and pushing Alabama to a 49.175 team score. Back-to-back falls on the balance beam dropped the Tide to a 48.675.
Alabama returns to the road for its next meet, traveling to Lexington, Ky., to take on the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday, Feb. 22.
For all the latest information on Alabama gymnastics, follow BamaGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and head coach Dana Duckworth on Twitter and Instagram at @UACoachDana.
Players Mentioned
