UCLA senior Danusia Francis
scored a perfect 10 on balance beam, but the seventh-ranked Bruins had
to count a fall on the event, dropping them to third place in a tri-meet
with Stanford and Georgia. The 16th-ranked Cardinal won the meet with a
season-high 197.400, while 10th-ranked Georgia was second with a
197.025. UCLA finished with a team score of 196.825.
Francis hit perfection during the third rotation with a flawless and
difficult performance and punctuated it with a stuck sideways side
aerial to full-twisting layout dismount. It was Francis' second perfect
10 of her career. She previously scored a 10 in Mar. 16, 2014, also in
Pauley Pavilion.
WATCH DANUSIA FRANCIS' PERFECT 10 ON BEAM
UCLA had three 9.9+ scores on beam - a leadoff 9.925 from Mikaela Gerber, a 9.9 from Katelyn
Ohashi, and Francis' 10 - plus a 9.85 from Sonya Meraz
but also had two falls, which dropped the team score to 48.95, and not
even a 49.475 on floor exercise in the final rotation could lift the
Bruins from third place.
But that didn't stop the Bruins from trying. Gerber scored a leadoff
9.825 on floor. Meraz scored 9.875, including a 9.95 from one judge,
despite a music malfunction that had her starting her routine to
different music and then doing two-thirds of her routine to no music and
just the audience's applause. Napualani Hall
scored 9.8, and the final three Bruins scored 9.9 or higher. Ohashi
recorded her second 9.9 of the day (and her third 9.9 in three routines
since coming back from a fractured sternum) to post a new career-high. JaNay Honest earned her second consecutive 9.925 on floor, tying her career-high, and Sadiqua Bynum picked up her fifth-consecutive score of 9.95 or higher, tying for first place with a 9.95.
The Bruins also had a strong performance on vault in the first
rotation, taking the early lead, along with Stanford, with a season-best
49.375. Bynum earned a career-high 9.95 with a stuck Yurchenko Arabian,
and Madison Preston stuck her Yurchenko layout full for a career-high-tying 9.9. The Bruins had 9.8 or higher on all six vaults.
Uneven bars was a little shaky for the Bruins, however, and UCLA's
49.025 on the event allowed Stanford to surge ahead after a 49.25 on
floor. Sophina DeJesus was the team's leading scorer with a 9.875, and Meraz and Honest posted 9.85s.
Stanford was strong on all four events, scoring 49.25 or higher on
each apparatus. The Cardinal used a 49.525 on uneven bars to solidify
the victory. Elizabeth Price, who won the all-around with a 39.675,
scored 9.975s on vault and bars. Georgia had its strongest showing in
the final rotation with a 49.525 on vault, punctuated by a perfect 10 by
Brittany Rogers on a stuck Yurchenko 1.5.
The Bruins will close their regular season on Sunday, Mar. 13 against
Oklahoma on Senior Day. The meet begins at 2pm and will be televised
live on Pac-12 Networks. UCLA will honor its esteemed seniors - Bynum,
DeJesus and Francis - in post-meet ceremonies. Tickets can be purchased
at uclabruins.com/tickets.
No comments:
Post a Comment