No. 1 Oklahoma beat No. 5 Florida Friday night at the Lloyd Noble Center behind Faith Torrez’ meet high score in all-around with a 39.775
The Sooners (11-1, 5-1 ) edged out the Gators (7-3, 2-3 ) 198.075-196.625.
Oklahoma started out hot in their first rotation on vault led by Torrez’ 9.95, followed by a 9.925 from Keira Wells for a collective 49.475. Florida’s Leanne Wong posted a 9.900 but it wasn’t enough to give the Gators the edge as the Sooners won the event 49.475-49.375.
Florida boasted a strong start on bars. The gymnast with the highest score for the Gators was Wong with a score of 9.900, contributing to their collective score of 49.275. An event high of 9.925 from Oklahoma’ Jordan Bowers wins Oklahoma the uneven bars with a score of 49.425-49.275. After two rounds of events, the Sooners led 98.900-98.650.
“On bars we still have a lot more in us,” said head coach K.J. Kindler. “We were only 50% on our landings, but this was undoubtedly the best core performance of the year,” as they posted their first score of 198 this season.
The Sooners started on beam led by a 9.925 from Torrez, giving OU a score of 49.400 for the event. Wong led Florida in balance beam with a score of 9.875, but a series of falls from the team held them back as the Sooners won the event 49.400-48.625.
Going into practice this week, coach Kindler emphasized the importance of dismounts.
“We stuck five out of six dismounts on beam, which is a huge improvement from last week where we only stuck one dismount,” Kindler said.
Wong started the Gators off right on floor with a team-high of 9.925, but an unfortunate injury to Sloane Blakely gave the Gators a score of 49.350 for the event. Torrez ends the floor event with a perfect 10 and the Sooners win the event 49.775-49.350.
“It’s a travesty this is the first one (Faith Torrez) has gotten all year,” Kindler said of Faith’s floor performance.
“It definitely felt like the best routine I’ve had all year,” said Torrez.
When Kindler was asked about the loss to LSU last week, she said she took it as a“blessing” and an opportunity for her team to bounce back.
“‘Crush it’ was the last thing I said before we left the floor,” Kindler said. “It felt like we really needed to have this kind of meet and it was time to have this kind of meet.”
“It was another day in the office, but the whole country thinks we have something and we’ve been proving it all season.”
The Sooners will face off against the Tar Heels of the University of North Carolina on Feb. 23 in Fort Worth, Texas.
This story was edited by Hannah Bryant.
Oklahoma women’s gymnastics schedule:
Jan. 4: Oklahoma 197.550, Auburn 195.950, BYU 194.625, Nebraska 194.475
Jan. 11: Oklahoma 197.950, LSU 197.650, California 197.275 Utah 196.800
Jan. 17: Oklahoma 197.775, Missouri 196.750
Jan. 24: Oklahoma 197.550. Alabama 196.300
Jan. 31: Oklahoma 197.828. Arkansas 195.975
Feb. 7: Oklahoma 197.825. Kentucky 197.225
Feb. 14: Oklahoma 197.675. LSU 198.050
Feb. 21: vs. Florida at 7:45 p.m. (TV: ESPN2)
Feb. 23: vs. North Carolina in Fort Worth at 2:30 p.m. (TV: n/a)
Feb. 28: at Auburn at 6:45 p.m. (TV: SEC Network+)
March 7: vs. Michigan at 7:15 p.m. (TV: SEC Network+)
March 14: at Georgia at 5:45 p.m. (TV: SEC Network+)
