A week after No. 5 LSU edged No. 6 Arkansas in the women’s gymnastics opener in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, the Tigers travel to Fayetteville to battle the Razorbacks again Friday night at 7:30 in Barnhill Arena.
The Tigers, after too many mistakes in the balance beam, seemed headed for loss last Friday in the debut of new coach Jay Clark until LSU rallied with a strong close in the floor exercise to capture a 196.550-196.350 win.
Freshman Ashleigh Bryant scored a 9.975 in the fifth spot of the floor exercise lineup and sophomore Kiya Johnson capped the night with a “walk off” 10.0, the third perfect score of her career.
“This team is ready to get back out there,” Clark said. “We had some wrinkles to iron out but it still was a really good season opening score. It is the first road meet for us so I am interested to see how this team responds to a different environment.”
Last week’s meeting did not count in the SEC standings. Friday night’s rematch is the official league opener and it will be televised on the SEC Network with Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke on the call.
LSU owns the all-time series over Arkansas, 39-5-1 with a record of 31-4-1 in the regular season. The Tigers are 7-1-against the Razorbacks in Fayetteville and have won 20 straight in the series dating back to the 2012 season.
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