AUBURN, Ala. – Sophomore Sunisa Lee scored a 10 on bars and No. 5 Auburn excelled on floor, scoring a season high to win a top 10 matchup vs. No. 9 LSU 197.750-197.500 Friday at Neville Arena.
"We're proving that we're a 198 team if we can put all four events together," Auburn coach Jeff Graba said. "We've got to refine some stuff but we're also pressing really hard to get to that 198. It's a balancing act right now."
Auburn grabbed a half-tenth lead after the first rotation, scoring 49.325 on vault to LSU's 49.275 bars score.
Fifth year Derrian Gobourne led the Tigers with a 9.925. Debuting a Yurchenko 1.5 in the anchor slot, sophomore Olivia Hollingsworth tied her career high with a 9.875, matching senior Cassie Stevens' score. Lee earned a 9.85 and Sara Hubbard added a 9.8 for Auburn.
"Having Olivia Hollingsworth upgrade her vault was a big deal," Graba said. "That allows us to have five 10.0 vaults."
LSU started quickly on vault, its second rotation, scoring a 9.925 in the No. 2 slot and a 10 from Aleah Finnegan in the third position.
Auburn accepted the challenge, scoring 49.5 on bars. After Hollingsworth opened with a 9.825, sophomore Sophia Groth tied her career high with a 9.925. Stevens followed with a 9.9 to tie her season high and Gobourne earned a 9.85 before Lee thrilled the sold-out crowd with her perfect score, the Olympic gold medalist's first at home on bars.
"The energy was all-around amazing," Lee said. "I didn't even know it was my first time getting a 10 here at Neville Arena on bars. A super-amazing feeling."
A leadoff beam fall put pressure on Auburn's lineup in the third rotation, with LSU scoring 49.450 on floor to further increase the drama. With little margin for error, senior Aria Brusch scored a 9.85 in the second spot, Stevens followed with a 9.825 and Groth scored a 9.75.
Junior Gabby McLaughlin and Lee made sure Auburn would hold onto its lead heading to the final rotation, scoring 9.9 and 9.95, respectively, to give the Tigers 49.275 on beam.
"I was most impressed with beam," Graba said. "That says a lot about our mentality and focus."
"We knew that this is our house, and we wanted to win," Gobourne said of Auburn's approach heading to floor.
After Brusch led off with a 9.85, Groth, Hollingsworth and Stevens each followed with 9.9s. At the bottom of the lineup, Lee and Gobourne earned 10s from one judge and scored 9.975s to give Auburn 49.650 to LSU's 49.425 on beam.
"It was so much fun to be out there with my teammates," Gobourne said. "The energy was crazy tonight. It's always so special every time I end on floor. We wanted to be strong and get it done. It was special to see everyone go out there and show out and not be afraid of the crowd, the judges or the scores. Everyone really shining their light was so special to see."
LSU's Finnegan won the all-around with 39.8, barely edging Lee's 39.775. Four Auburn gymnasts competed in all four events, with Stevens scoring 39.5, Groth earning 39.3 and Hollingsworth scoring 38.925.
"When we come together and put it all together like we did on floor today, we can be unstoppable," Lee said. "That's something that's so exciting about the team because you never know what we're capable of."
Auburn will hit the road for its next meet, traveling to Columbia, Missouri, next Sunday for a 5 p.m. CT matchup with No. 15 Missouri on SEC Network.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
No. 5 Auburn scores season-high 197.750 to win top 10 matchup vs. No. 9 LSU
