University of Missouri
LSU
Hu Grabs All-Around and Beam Titles in No. 18 Gymnastics' Narrow Loss to No. 6 LSU
2/21/2020 11:05:00 PM | Gymnastics
COLUMBIA, Mo. –The No. 18 Mizzou gymnastics team matched its season-best score but narrowly lost sixth-ranked LSU, 197.025-196.850, Friday night at the Hearnes Center. Mizzou's 196.850 matched the same score posted at Alabama two weeks ago.
Freshman Helen Hu (Chicago, Ill.) continued her breakout initial campaign in black and gold, winning the all-round title with a 39.475, which matched her career-high. Hu also won her fifth beam title of the season with a career-high 9.975, while redshirt senior Morgan Porter (Overland, Mo.) tied for the vault crown.
VAULT
Mizzou opened the meet on vault, posting a 49.200 thanks to five scores of 9.8 or higher. Porter set a season-best with a 9.9 to lead the Tigers and tie for the event win. Junior Gabrielle Gottula (Spring, Texas) went 9.85, Hu and freshman Kambrie Brandt (Adkins, Texas) recorded 9.825s and sophomore Hannah McCrary (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) added a 9.8.
BARS
Porter again led the Tigers in the second rotation, as she went 9.875 to help Mizzou post a team score of 49.050 on bars. Hu was just behind with a 9.85 and senior Aspen Tucker (Lehigh Acres, Fla.) earned a 9.825.
BEAM
The Tigers kept the meet close with a 49.350 on beam to enter the final rotation trailing LSU 147.625-147.600. The 49.350, which was the fourth-best beam score in program history, was bolstered by a career-best 9.975 from Hu. The freshman, who entered the meet ranked fifth nationally on the event, become only the third Tiger to earn a 9.975, joining Lauren Schwartzman and Britney Ward. Mizzou also got a 9.9 from Gottula, a career-high-tying 9.85 from McCrary, and a 9.825 from freshman Sienna Schreiber (Cumming, Ga.) and a 9.8 from sophomore Alisa Sheremeta (Circleville, N.Y.).
FLOOR
McCrary and Schreiber both earned 9.875s on floor to help Mizzou closed the meet with a 49.250 on the event. Friday marked the fourth-straight meet the Tigers scored a 49.250 or better on the apparatus, as Mizzou is averaging 49.311 over that span. A 9.85 from Porter was joined by 9.825s from Gottula, Hu, Schreiber and Sheremeta. Despite Mizzou's strong floor score, LSU went 49.400 on beam to pull away with the victory.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou Head Coach Shannon Welker "I thought we came out and did a nice job on vault and really had great energy to open it up tonight. I thought we did well on bars, but I still think we can do better. Last weekend, we set our season-best (49.400), then tonight we were about four-tenths off of that, so I think we are going to work on a few things and I think we can get better there. Real pleased with how we responded on beam – I thought we were real strong over there – and I thought floor was strong. The energy was good, there was confidence was in the routines. We're about to get back two of our seniors next weekend, we're getting them back at a perfect time of the year. It's all about how you finish the season, I we took it upon ourselves to make the second half our half of the season."
UP NEXT
Missouri will host a quad meet at Hearnes Center on February 28 in the regular season finale. The Tigers are set to take on No. 7 Minnesota, Ohio State and Lindenwood at 7 p.m. CT.
Players Mentioned
