Regular Season Conference Finale on Deck for No. 9 Alabama against No. 2 LSU

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 9 Alabama gymnastics team will travel to Baton Rouge, La., to take on the No. 2 LSU Tigers inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Crimson Tide's final regular-season contest against a Southeastern Conference opponent will begin at 5 p.m. CT and will be aired, nationally, on ESPN2.

Friday night's meet will be the ninth contest for Alabama this season as the Crimson Tide is coming off a historic victory over the then-No. 18 Georgia Bulldogs. UA rolled past Georgia via a 198.075 team score – a mark that is tied for the third highest in program history. On the Tide's final rotation of the night, Alabama steamrolled through the floor exercise as every UA gymnast scored a 9.900-or-higher to capture a program-record 49.750 event score.

Head Coach Ashley Johnston Said

"It will be important for us to drown out the noise [and environment of the LSU fans], and just focus on what we can do and what we have control over. I say that every week, but it's not easy to want to take in an environment and an opportunity, but then still be able to detach from it and focus on the things within your control, and this week will be no different. It's our final SEC matchup and it will be great preparation before our final home quad meet [on March 8] and against the No. 1 team Oklahoma [March 17] on the road."

Friday's Meet

Alabama is led by Ashley Johnston, in her second season as UA's head coach, while Jay Clark is in his fourth season at the helm of the Tigers
The two teams last competed against each other inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Feb. 18, 2022, with LSU taking home a 198.050-197.600 victory
While Alabama is coming off its dominating win over Georgia, LSU enters Friday night after suffering a 198.150-197.950 loss at Florida despite posting its highest road score of the season

Last Time Out

The Crimson Tide crossed the 198-score threshold for the first time this season in front of 12,586 fans for the 20^th annual Power of Pink meet
The Crimson Tide steamrolled to a 49.750 team score on the floor exercise, to not only break the program record but also post the second-highest rotation mark across the nation
UA matched or set two season-high rotation scores (uneven bars - 49.600) and (floor exercise - 49.750) for the second consecutive meet

The Tide in the Rankings

Alabama maintains its second-place national ranking on the uneven bars (49.530) while simultaneously posting top-six rankings on all four events within the SEC (No. 1 – UB; No. 4 – VT; No. 5 – BB; No. 6 – FX)
Individually, Luisa Blanco is No. 8 nationally on vault (9.905 NQS). Blanco also holds top-15 rankings in the all-around (11^th – 39.580 NQS) and on the uneven bars (13^th – 9.915 NQS).
Junior Lilly Hudson (17^th – 9.925 NQS)and senior Cameron Machado (18^th – 9.910 NQS) both hold top-20 national rankings of their own, on the floor exercise and the uneven bars, respectively

Up Next

Alabama returns to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for its final home meet of the 2024 season on Friday, March 8, with first vault at 7 p.m. CT
The quad meet will feature No. 16 Minnesota, No. 23 Illinois and Talladega College
The night has been dubbed as Eras Night as the Crimson Tide welcomes home its alumni and honors its seven senior gymnasts as part of Senior Night festivities

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