University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 16 Gophers Travel South
3/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
| No.16 Minnesota at No. 2 Louisiana State University | |
| Date | Friday, March 6, 2015 |
| Time | 7:30 p.m. CT |
| Location | Maravich Center / Louisiana State University / Baton Rouge, La. |
| Tickets | Louisiana State Univeristy Ticket Office |
| Streaming | SEC Network + |
| Live Stats | LSU Live Stats |
| Preview/Notes | Minnesota / Louisiana State University |
| Social Media | @GopherWGym/Facebook |
The Top 10.0 Things You Need to Know
1.0 - No. 16 Minnesota will travel to Baton Rouge, La. for the final meet of the regular season on Friday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. CT. The meet will be held at Maravich Center on LSU's campus. SEC + will stream the meet online and live stats will be available. Fans can follow the action from home, including line ups and in-meet scores, by following @GopherWGym on Twitter or use the hashtag #AlwaysGolden.
2.0 - Friday evening's meet marks the fiftenth meeting between the two teams. LSU leads the all-time series 14-0 and will be the first time the two teams have competed against each other since the NCAA Championship Semifinal in Los Angeles, Calif. in 2013. This is the first time the Gophers will travel to Baton Rouge, La. in nearly twenty years, the last was in 1996 when the Maroon and Gold traveled to LSU for the NCAA Central Regional. Minnesota enters the meet with an overall record of 8-5 and 2-3 mark in league competition.
3.0 - Last weekend, the Maroon and Gold hosted an unexpected tri-meet as they welcomed New Hampshire and Iowa. Minnesota placed second amongst the competition, tallying a team score of 194.725. The Gophers were led by junior Lindsay Mable who collected three individual titles on the weekend and her tenth consecutive all-around crown. Minnesota earned two team event titles as they put together strong showings on vault and floor exercise with scores of 49.075 and 49.325, respectively. The Gophers, who scored a 47.900 on the bars and 48.425 on the beam, were outdistanced by Iowa on the uneven bars and New Hampshire on balance beam.Minnesota's final rotation proved to be the strongest of the evening for the Gophers as Ciara Gardnerand Tomson both scored 9.900's to earn spots on the top of the podium with Mable. The 9.900 mark was C. Gardner's highest score of her collegiate career and marked her first event title as a Golden Gopher.
4.0 - Mable added three more event titles and earned her tenth consecutive all-around title last weekend when the Golden Gophers hosted Iowa and New Hampshire. The Aurora, Colo. native recorded a 9.900 on three events including vault, uneven bars and beam while she nabbed a 9.950 on floor exercise to round out the evening for the Maroon and Gold. With another strong performance, Mable earned her sixth Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor. The award marked the third time in as many weeks that Mable collected the weekly honor.With last week's Big Ten Gymnast of the Week accolade, Mable became the first Minnesota gymnast in school history to pick up five weekly conference laurels in a season since the award started recognizing student-athletes on a weekly basis in 1999. Gopher great Laura Johnson earned the award four times in 2006. In addition to the recognition by the conference, Mable sits atop the national rankings for the second straight week in the all-around competition.
5.0 - Have you ever wondered what a meet day is like for the nation's No. 1 gymnast? Gopher Digital Productions gives fans an inside look at the Minnesota women's gymnastics team during the Best of Minnesota meet. Watch the full video here. Lindsay Mable spent time with the voices of the Gophers, Mike Grimm and Justin Gaard, on this week's edition of the Gopher Sports Podcast. Catch Lindsay's full interview here.
6.0 - Minnesota moved up in the rankings from 19th to 14th after collecting four victories last weekend. The Maroon and Gold have an average score of 196.010 as they head into this weekend's tri-meet. The squad continues to rise in weekly rankings as they are ranked 19th for the second week in a row on vault (49.125) and improved from 25th to 20th on uneven bars (48.915), from 16th to 13th on balance beam (48.945) and from 22nd to 12th on floor exercise (49.135).
7.0 - The Gophers returned 9 gymnasts from 2014 including two-time All-American and Big Ten all-around Champion,Lindsay Mable, as well as Gopher standouts in seniorsJenny CoversandCierra Tomson. Minnesota had a successful 2014 season where they won their second consecutive Big Ten regular season title and advanced to the NCAA Regional held at the University of Minnesota. Minnesota welcomed five new members to the family at the beginning of the academic year. FreshmenAbby DeMuse, BaileyGardner, CiaraGardner,Hannah HitchcockandRachel Rowlandwill make their regular season debut when the Gophers host Iowa State on Saturday. At the annual intrasquad meet,Gardnerplaced third in the all-around and DeMuse finished in a tie for second place on the bars (9.750) and fourth on floor (9.750).
8.0 - The Maroon and Gold will host six home meets during the 2015 season including the Big Ten Qualifier featuringIowa, Michigan, Penn State and Rutgers on March 14. Last season, six Big Ten teams finished the 2014 season ranked in the top 25 teams in the country. Minnesota finished the season ranked 14th nationally. To purchase tickets for the Gophers' home competitions, please visit MyGopherSports.Com.
9.0 - The back-to-back Big Ten Conference regular season champions were tabbed to place fifth in the Big Ten this season. JuniorsLindsay MableandMadeline Hanleywere named as gymnasts to watch this season.The University of Michigan women's gymnastics team earned the coveted top spot in the coaches' poll while No. 2 Nebraska and No. 3 Illinois round out the top three. Minnesota will match up with Maryland on Thursday. The Terrapins earned the seventh place spot in the preseason poll.
10.0 - Keep up with the Maroon and Gold throughout the season by following@GopherWGymon Twitter and Instagram and Minnesota Women's Gymnastics on Facebook. To join the conversation, use the hashtag #AlwaysGolden.
Players Mentioned
