University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Visits LSU Friday Night
February 16, 2011 | Gymnastics
Feb. 16, 2011
No. 5 Georgia (6-3, 2-2 SEC) will make its third road trip in four weeks when it visits No. 21 LSU (2-6, 0-3 SEC) Friday at 8 p.m. ET. The meet will be televised tape-delayed by CSS and will air Feb. 22 at 9 p.m.
The Gym Dogs are coming off a loss to No. 1 Florida last week in which they scored higher than a 49 on each event for the first time this season. LSU, which lost to Arkansas last week, is competing at home for the third straight week. The Tigers are looking for their first SEC win.
RANKINGS
Georgia is ranked No. 5 in this week's edition of the GymInfo Top 25, the fifth-straight week the Gym Dogs have been ranked in the top-five. UGA is third on the balance beam (49.082), fifth on bars (49.039), ninth on vault (49.014) and 11th on floor (48.907).
Individually for the Gym Dogs, Lindsey Cheek is first in the country with her 39.550 all-around score against Auburn on Jan. 21. Cassidy McComb, who had a 39.475 in the all-around against Florida, is No. 22 nationally.
Cheek, who has a 9.925 on bars this season, is No. 1 on the event followed by No. 3 Gina Nuccio (9.879) and Kat Ding (9.833) in a tied for 24th. Shayla Worley is tied for ninth on beam (9.833), while Cheek is 20th (9.811). On floor, Hilary Mauro is tied for 12th (9.858).
LSU is ranked No. 12 on vault, and the Tigers' Sarie Morrison is tied for 24th on bars.
QUICK HITS
Lindsey Cheek's 39.550 in the all-around against Auburn is the fourth highest all-around score in the SEC this season. It is the only meet she has competed in the all-around. Cassidy McComb's 39.525 against West Virginia is tied for fifth. • Hilary Mauro and Lindsey Cheek both posted a 9.95 on vault against Auburn to tie three other gymnasts for the highest vault score in the league. • Georgia has five of the SEC's top nine performers on the uneven bars. Kat Ding's 9.975 against Florida is tied for the top score by an SEC gymnast, while Gina Nuccio, Shayla Worley and Lindsey Cheek are tied for third, and Cassidy McComb is tied for ninth. • Cassidy McComb's 9.95 on floor vs. Auburn is tied for the second highest mark in the SEC, while her 9.9 on beam vs. West Virginia is tied for fourth; Hilary Mauro also had a 9.9 on beam against Florida. • Through seven meets this season, a Georgia gymnast has posted the high score on 23 of 28 events. The only events Georgia did not at least tie for first were vault against Utah and vault and floor at Kentucky, and vault and floor vs. Florida. • Senior Cassidy McComb has won at least one individual title in six of the seven meets this season, and has 11 total. Last year, she claimed one individual title all season.
THE GEORGIA-LSU SERIES
This will mark the 75th meeting between Georgia and LSU since records kept in 1980, and UGA leads the series 59-13-2. LSU is one of only five teams with double digit victories vs. UGA.
Last year, No. 5 Georgia beat 10th-ranked LSU 196.575-196.050 in Athens, then earned another victory over the Tigers in the SEC Championship meet. In the last meeting in Baton Rouge, Georgia won 196.850-195.950 in 2009.
LAST TIME OUT
No. 1 Florida posted the nation's highest score to date and beat fourth-ranked Georgia 197.725-196.600 in front of 9,794 fans last Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum. Despite the loss Georgia (6-3, 2-2 SEC) scored higher than a 49.0 on each event for the first time this season, and also posted its highest two and three-rotation scores of the year. Georgia and Florida gymnasts combined for 16 scores of 9.9 or higher.
LAST TIME VS. LSU - FEB. 26, 2010
Fifth-ranked Georgia remained undefeated at home after earning a 196.575-196.050 win over No. 10 LSU at Stegeman Coliseum. Seniors Courtney McCool and Grace Taylor provided strong leadership in the final two events for the Gym Dogs to hold onto the lead they maintained all evening. Georgia gymnasts won at least a share of three of the four event titles. Marcia Newby and McCool split the bars title with LSU's Susan Jackson, while Taylor and McCool split beam and McCool captured floor outright, capping a three-event win for the senior on the night and defending her No. 1 national ranking on floor.
ON DECK
The Gym Dogs return home to take on No. 6 Alabama Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m., in the final SEC meet of the regular season for UGA.
