No. 1 Sooners Open Season at No. 5 LSU

¹Oklahoma

⁵LSU

Jan. 9 | 4 p.m. CT | Baton Rouge, La.

Notes

MATCHUP AT A GLANCE
	Oklahoma	LSU
2016 Record	0-0-0	0-0-0
2016 Preseason Ranking	No. 1	No. 5
2015 Scoring Average	197.675	197.484
2015 Team High	198.500	198.375
2015 RQS	197.895	197.650

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR WEEK ONE

TOP-FIVE MATCHUP
The No. 1 Oklahoma women's gymnastics team hits the road for its 2016 season opener, taking on No. 5 LSU in Baton Rouge, La. The meet will begin at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday, Jan. 9. OU leads the all-time series with the Tigers, 14-9, and came out on top in the most-recent meeting 197.400-196.550 on April 17, 2015, in the NCAA Semifinals.

NO BREAKS
The Oklahoma coaching staff has lined up a slate in 2016 that will challenge the Sooners from week one when they face No. 5 LSU on the road. Ranked as the second-toughest schedule in the country by RoadtoNationals.com, OU is set to face six 2015 NCAA Championships qualifiers, including Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Stanford and UCLA, this season. The Sooners are one of three 2015 Super Six teams to own a top-10 ranking for strength of schedule.

SENIOR STARS
The Sooners will be boosted this season by leadership on and off the competition floor from the senior class. Maile'ana Kanewa, Keeley Kmieciak, Hunter Price and Haley Scaman have aided OU to three NCAA appearances, where it has finished in the top three in each of those seasons (second place in 2013; first place in 2014; third place in 2015). OU will also add a new senior to the group in Nicole Turner, a transfer from Oregon State. The trio of Kanewea, Kmeiciak and Scaman have combined for eight NCAA All-America honors in their careers.

FRESH FACES
Newcomers to the OU squad this year are freshmen Nicole Lehrmann, Alex Marks and Megan Thompson as well as Turner. Lehrmann, a former J.O. Bar and All-Around Champion, is slated to contribute on vault, bars and beam. Marks joined the team in January, and OU plans to utilize her floor and vault abilities early on and add bars and beam as the season progresses.

QUICK HITS

• OU is ranked No. 1 in the NACGC/W Preseason Coaches' Poll for the first time in program history.
• Oklahoma returns eight previous NCAA All-Americans who own 15 total accolades: Chayse Capps (VT, BB), Maile'ana Kanewa (VT, FX), Kara Lovan (FX), Haley Scaman (VT, FX), Ali Jackson (VT), Charity Jones (VT), Keeley Kmieciak (UB, BB) and McKenzie Wofford (UB).
• Senior Haley Scaman, the two-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Year, enters this season as the only Sooner in program history to post multiple 10.0s in a career on multiple events. Scaman owns three perfect scores on floor and two on vault.
• OU's schedule includes 10 meets to be held in the states of Oklahoma or Texas, including five in Norman inside the Lloyd Noble Center.
• All five of OU's regular season matches will be televised live by Sooner Sports TV.

UP NEXT

Next weekend, Oklahoma will start its home slate, welcoming California and TWU to the Lloyd Noble Center on Friday, Jan. 15. The meet is set for a 6:45 p.m. CT start. Tickets are available for purchase online or by calling the OU Athletics Tickets Office at (405) 325-2424 or toll-free at (800) 456-GoOU.