AUBURN, Ala. – To extend the season, says Auburn gymnastics coach Jeff Graba, you don't have to be faster than the bear, you need only be faster than your friends.
Auburn advanced to the Sweet 16, scoring 197.500 Thursday at Neville Arena in the afternoon session of the NCAA Regional.
"In the end, you've just got to survive and advance," Graba said. "I'm really happy with what they did. I told them that's the fight you're going to need in the next round."
With the top two teams from each Thursday session advancing to Saturday's regional final, the Tigers joined fellow SEC member Kentucky, which scored 197.750.
"Each round gets harder and we can't have bad rotations in two days," Graba said. "We are a bunch of fighters and we're capable. They were good enough to move on. That's really all that matters."
Olympic all-around gold medalist Sunisa Lee closed the session in style, earning a 9.975 on beam, the meet's highest score.
"She's just a competitor," Graba said. "All these girls are tough. You don't win the Olympic gold medal without having that tough-as-nails mentality."
The Tigers posted their highest score on beam, 49.475, with Sophia Groth earning a 9.95. Gabby Mclaughlin's 9.875, Cassie Stevens' 9.85 and Aria Brusch's 9.825 also contributed to Auburn's beam score.
Opening on floor, senior Derrian Gobourne delivered her usual crowd-pleasing routine, earning a 9.95 to share the event title. Groth and Lee each scored 9.9s, with Stevens adding a 9.85. Brusch and fifth-year Drew Watson posted 9.75s.
On the Tigers' second rotation, Stevens scored Auburn's best mark on vault, a 9.925.
"We showed a lot of fight out there today," Stevens said. "Everyone powered through."
Watson added a 9.9 with Gobourne and Sara Hubbard contributing 9.85s. Lee anchored Auburn's vault lineup, scoring 9.825.
Lee anchored again on bars, scoring a 9.95 on Auburn's third rotation to help the Tigers extend their lead over Georgia and Southern Utah in the quest to advance.
"We rely on her and she's been there for us," Stevens said of Lee.
Gobourne and Stevens each added 9.85s with Adeline Sabados and Brusch scoring 9.825s before the Tigers transitioned to beam for the final rotation.
Despite Auburn's beam score, Kentucky added to its lead in the final rotation by scoring 49.525 on floor to outdistance the Tigers by .250 in the session.
Lee led the Tigers' trio of all-arounders, scoring 39.650 while Stevens scored 39.475 and Groth tallied 39.3. Kentucky's Raena Worley won the all-around with a 39.7, including 9.95s on vault and bars.
"Kentucky's really, really good, but we're within two-tenths of them on our bad night," Graba said. "We control our destiny. If we get our act together, we should be in good shape. Maybe our team needed to get hit in the face a little bit and get woken up.
"They definitely needed to figure this game out. Kentucky's been in the postseason a lot lately and we have not."
Auburn will rest and rejuvenate Friday before competing in Saturday's quad meet at 5 p.m. CT along with Kentucky, Florida and Denver. The top two regional final finishers will advance to the Elite Eight April 14-16 in Fort Worth, Texas.
"Today prepared us a lot for Saturday," Stevens said. "It will be similar, but definitely more energy, more amped up. It's not going to be easy. We're going to have to still fight and show up on Saturday in order to qualify. Knowing we have all that support out there is great."
Sweet 16: Auburn advances to NCAA Regional final
