Lilly Hudson Strikes Perfection, No. 6 Alabama Remains Unbeaten with 197.575-197.425 Victory over No. 8 Florida - University of Alabama Athletics
The Crimson Tide became the first team since 2019 to beat Florida inside the Exactech Arena, effectively snapping a 20 home-meet win streak for the Gators
rolltide.com
The Crimson Tide became the first team since 2019 to beat Florida inside the Exactech Arena, effectively snapping a 20 home-meet win streak for the Gators
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 6 Alabama gymnastics program remained unbeaten on the season as the Crimson Tide (5-0-1, 2-0-1 SEC) earned a hard-fought 197.575-197.425 victory Saturday against the No. 8 Florida Gators (4-1-0, 1-1-0 SEC). The highlight of the night came from Lilly Hudson who scored a Perfect 10 on the vault, helping Alabama better its team score for a third-straight meet.With the dual meet victory tonight, the Crimson Tide became the first team since 2019 to beat the Gators inside the Exactech Arena, effectivey snapping a 20 home-meet win streak for Florida.
The Tide got off to an early lead with the uneven bars lineup. Super-senior duo Makarri Doggette and Luisa Blanco highlighted the event, closing the first rotation with back-to-back 9.925 scores.
On Alabama's second rotation, and a week after coming up clutch for the Tide, Lilly Hudson stepped up in the middle of the UA vault lineup and posted a perfect 10.000. It's the team's first Perfect 10 of the season and the second of Hudson's career. Blanco (9.950) and Gabby Gladieux (9.850) added season-high scores of their own to help push UA to a season-high 49.400 rotation score.
Entering the final rotation in a back-and-forth battle towards the end of the meet, Blanco secured Alabama the victory with a season-high 9.950.
Head Coach Ashley Johnston Said
"I'm so proud of the team tonight. This was a really important meet for us because it's easy to get to a meet like this and try to be perfect, and I'm really proud of the way that the team focused on just making progress. Progress over perfection. We've worked really hard on our culture and trusting each other and not letting one little mistake affect the approach of the next person up. I felt like the team really settled into that tonight. Even if there wasn't a perfect performance (by an athlete), they didn't let it get the best of them. They continue to just trust their average, where they weren't trying harder. They weren't trying to do anything different. They just trusted their preparation and executed at a really high level."Inside the Score Sheet
- Alabama bettered its team score for the third straight meet, with all meets coming against top-eight nationally ranked opponents
- UA posted at least one season-high rotation score for the third-straight meet
- Lilly Hudson scored her second-career Perfect 10 and the Tide's first perfect score of the season to help lead the Tide to a season-high 49.400
- UA claimed at least a share of every event title – vault (Hudson – 10.000), uneven bars (Luisa Blanco, Makarri Doggette – 9.925), balance beam (Luisa Blanco – 9.950), floor exercise (Hudson – 9.925) and all-around (Chloe LaCoursiere – 39.700)
- Nine season-high scores were recorded by the Tide throughout the four rotations
Up Next
- Alabama will return home to Coleman Coliseum for its Be the Change meet, when it hosts the Kentucky Wildcats Friday, Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m. CT
- The meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network
