Centenary, LSU and Pittsburgh at Texas Woman’s

Update 2/7: Pittsburgh joined this meet.

Update 2/24: Centenary joined this meet.

Recap 

The Big Storyline: LSU, Pitt and TWU will be happy to drop their lowest counting NQS scores. LSU took a commanding lead from the start with its 49.425 on bars. The only hiccup in the Tigers’ day was counting a host of 9.8s on beam. Kiya Johnson made her return to the floor lineup while Alyona Shchennikova was back on bars as well. Pittsburgh held onto the victory over TWU despite a shaky beam performance in the final rotation. The Panthers stunned on bars with a 49.250 led by Chamberlain’s third 9.9-plus in a row. TWU posted another score above 195.000, proving that the Pioneers’ difficulties on bars are a thing of the past. Centenary posted a season high team score after making improvements on bars. 

Implications: Despite Auburn breaking its program record this weekend, LSU will sneak just past to reclaim the second spot in the SEC. With one 196 dropped and another left to go, the Tigers are in a good spot heading into a slate of two home meets prior to the conference championship. With things starting to shake up in the EAGL, Pittsburgh has primed itself to move up in the rankings this week. Did we mention that the Panthers still have 194s counting in their NQS? There’s even more room to improve. Today was a grounding experience after the high of breaking the program record last weekend, but don’t forget this team’s potential. Texas Woman’s posted yet another season high on its alumni night. Could it have been the velvet leos? Maybe so. The Pioneers showed a level of consistency that they have been searching for. With tonight’s 195-plus, the team will move tentatively into the top spot in the USAG. Centenary made some improvements this week and will re-enter the rankings now that the team has enough scores for an NQS. The Ladies will continue to look to improve consistency to avoid counting falls, especially on bars and beam. 

Records: Kyla Podges increased her beam career high to 9.825. KJ Johnson achieved perfection on vault with a 9.950 for her Yurchenko full while fellow freshman Aleah Finnegan posted the first 9.925 on beam in her career. Texas Woman’s broke an attendance record with 1,237 fans in the stands. 

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 6 LSU and No. 30 Pittsburgh at No. 47 Texas Woman’s

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: This is the third meeting between Pittsburgh and Texas Woman’s this season. The teams last saw each other at a tri meet in West Virginia where the Pioneers fell short of defeating the Panthers by just 0.075. Both have eclipsed season highs since then, and the Panthers even posted a new program high of 196.775 last weekend. For LSU, there’s nothing quite like watching a top-10 team compete with less pressure. It’s a recipe for season and career debuts! LSU will be looking to drop one of its 196s from its NQS to inch closer to Auburn while fending off Alabama. 

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: There’s a few routines in LSU’s lineups that could be watched on repeat. The most obvious of which is Haleigh Bryant’s vault, which is capable of repeated perfection. In addition, watch out for KJ Johnson and Kiya Johnson. Their explosiveness is next level. Katie Chamberlain is one to keep an eye on for Pittsburgh. She just surpassed the program bars record two meets ago and has posted multiple 9.9s since then. TWU’s Madeline Gose performed six routines last weekend, and five of them were over 9.850. She is capable of 9.9s on beam and floor, so watch for her to contend for an event title or two.