LOS ANGELES – No. 12 Auburn concluded its season in the opening round of the NCAA Regional at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, scoring 195.9 to finish fourth in Thursday's afternoon session.
Needing to finish in the top two of the four-team session to advance to Saturday's Sweet 16, Auburn was in excellent position halfway through the meet until three consecutive falls on bars created a deficit too big to overcome.
"When you get to this meet, you have to be really good to move on," Auburn coach Jeff Graba said. "You can't have an event like we did on bars. We picked a bad night to have our worst night of the year."
Beginning on floor, Auburn delivered throughout the lineup. Derrian Gobourne anchored with a team-high 9.925 to earn a share of the session event title. Gabby McLaughlin led off with a 9.875, a score equaled by Olivia Hollingworth. Sophia Groth and Cassie Stevens each added 9.85s to give the Tigers a team score of 49.375, comfortably ahead of Washington (49.050 on vault) and Southern Utah (48.950 on bars), trailing only Utah (49.5 on beam).
Auburn moved to vault for its second event, with Caroline Leonard leading off with a career-high 9.875. After Sara Hubbard followed with a 9.850, Hollingsworth and Stevens each earned 9.8s before Gobourne equaled Leonard's 9.875 in the anchor spot, giving Auburn 49.2 in the event and 98.575 through two rotations.
Trouble arrived on bars, the Tigers' third rotation, with three straight falls at the top of the lineup. Aria Brusch regained momentum for Auburn earning a 9.9 in the fourth spot before Stevens tied her career high with a 9.925 to finish third in the session and Gobourne anchored with a 9.85.
Finishing on beam, freshman Hannah Hagle scored a career-high 9.9, earning a 10 from one of the four judges, for Auburn's top score. McLaughlin anchored with a 9.875, Brusch earned a 9.825, Hollingsworth scored a 9.8 and Groth added a 9.775 for a team score of 49.175.
Leonard and Hagle capitalized on their opportunities, producing career bests to bolster a lineup missing Sunisa Lee for the season's final month.
"For (Hagle) to do that on beam was a huge deal," Graba said. "Caroline on vault, going 9.875 on a 9.95 (start value) vault. Derrian was great on floor. We got some really good performances, but as a group, not as consistent as we want."
Stevens (39.325) finished third in the all-around, while Hollingsworth and Groth finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Depending on other regional team and individual results, Stevens (bars) and Gobourne (floor) could potentially advance individually to the NCAA Championships April 13-15 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Second-seeded Utah (198.125) and Washington (196.775) moved on to Saturday's Sweet 16, where they will compete against the top two teams in Thursday's evening session that featured top-seeded UCLA, No. 4 seed Missouri, Stanford and Boise State.
