Sooners and Sun Devils to Face Off Saturday

NORMAN – The Sooners are set for a 5:30 p.m. CT meet at No. 14 Arizona State. The meet will be held inside Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Ariz. The two teams will face off on ESPN2 with John Roethlisberger and Bridget Sloan on the call.

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET TWO

STARTING STRONG
The Sooners opened the 2020 season with a victory at the Collegiate Challenge in Anaheim, Calif. For the third consecutive season, OU earned a road victory to open up the year. OU defeated UCLA, Cal and Stanford in the podium quad meet.

Under head coach K.J. Kindler, the Sooners are 13-3 all-time in season openers and haven't lost in the first meet of the year since 2016.

STILL ON TOP
After posting the best opening weekend score in the nation, the Sooners remained the No. 1 team. The Sooners were the only team in the country to reach the 197 mark as they posted a 197.350 in the first meet of the year.
OU holds the No. 1 spot on bars (49.550) and the No. 2 spot on vault (49.200), beam (49.225) and floor (49.375).
For the first time in conference history, the Big 12 boasts the top two teams in the nation. Just behind the Sooners is Denver who earned the No. 2 ranking with a 196.700. UCLA (196.575), Utah (196.425) and Cal (196.200) round out the top five.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Eight Sooners earned 19 individual national rankings this weekend with at least one OU gymnast ranked in the top five on vault, bars, floor and the all-around. All six who competed on bars are ranked nationally, while four are ranked on floor.
Senior Maggie Nichols is ranked in the top five on bars, floor and the all-around. Nichols holds the No. 1 spot on bars (9.975), the No. 2 spot in the all-around (39.625) and the No. 4 spot on floor (9.925). Junior Anastasia Webb is also ranked in the top 10 in the all-around at No. 6 (39.525). Freshman Ragan Smith sits in 12th in the all-around with a 39.275.

Webb holds the No. 2 spot on vault with a 9.9, while junior Evy Schoepfer comes in at No. 13 (9.850). On bars, Smith ranks No. 2 (9.95) with Webb also in the top 10 at No. 8 (9.9). Senior Jade Degouveia (No. 12 – 9.875), junior Jordan Draper (No. 17 – 9.850) and junior Karrie Thomas (No. 22 – 9.825) round out the Sooners ranked on bars.

On beam, Smith leads the team with a No. 7 ranking (9.9). Nichols and Thomas are tied for 19th with a 9.850. Along with Nichols, Webb (No. 6 – 9.9), Degouveia (No. 15 – 9.875) and sophomore Emma LaPinta (No. 23 – 9.85) are all ranked on floor.

BIG 12 ACCOLADES
Senior Maggie Nichols (Gymnast of the Week) and freshman Ragan Smith (Newcomer of the Week) each received accolades from the league. The honor is the 19^th of Nichols' career and the first for Smith.

Nichols was named the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for the 11^th time in her career after posting the second best all-around score in the nation with a 39.625. Nichols is ranked No. 1 nationally on bars as she posted a 9.975 to take home the event title. The Little Canada, Minn., native added a 9.925 on floor, a 9.875 on vault and a 9.850 on beam. Nichols has now scored a 9.9 or better on bars in her last 25 meets and has tallied at least a 9.9 on two events in each of her 31 career meets.

Smith earned her first career Big 12 weekly honor as she shined in her collegiate debut. The Lewisville, Texas, native is currently ranked No. 2 in the country on bars as she posted a 9.95. Smith added a 9.9 on beam to lead the Sooners and finished third on the team with a 39.275 in the all-around.

ROAD WARRIORS
The Sooners will start the season with three consecutive road meets and four total in the month of January. After opening the season in California, OU will head to Tempe, Ariz., for a matchup with Arizona State on Jan. 11.

The Sooners will close out their road swing on Jan. 17 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for a Friday night matchup with Alabama.The final road trip of January will be to Fort Worth, Texas, and the Metroplex Challenge. The quad-meet will feature OU, Alabama, Denver and Georgia on Jan. 25.

THE ROAD TO FORT WORTH RUNS THROUGH NORMAN
The road to the NCAA Championships will make a journey through Norman and Lloyd Noble Center in 2020. OU is one of four host sites this season, meaning the Sooners will have a home-floor advantage during the three-day regional competition.

This will be the fourth time since 2011 that the Sooners will play host as they hosted in 2011, 2013 and 2015. OU has won all three regional championships in the LNC and will look to make it four in April.

A LEAGUE OF HER OWN
Head coach K.J. Kindler is in a league of her own in 2020. With the retirement of long-time UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field at the end of the 2019 season, Kindler is now the only active head coach to win a national championship.
Kindler is still the only coach in NCAA history to take two different programs to the NCAA Finals (Iowa State, 2006; Oklahoma, nine times).

WE TOO DEEP
The Sooners return 11 gymnasts from the 2019 NCAA Championship squad, all who competed extensively last season in seniors Jade Degouveia, Maggie Nichols and Bre Showers; juniors Jordan Draper, Evy Scheofper, Karrie Thomas, Carly Woodard and Anastasia Webb; and sophomores Emma LaPinta, Allie Stern and Olivia Trautman.

All 11 returners appeared in at least five meets and came up with clutch performances to help OU to an undefeated season. Of the 11 returning, seven appeared in at least one lineup during the NCAA Finals. Webb is the only Sooner on the current roster to appear in every meet of her career. Webb has hit 76 of 80 routines, good for a .950 average.

QUICK HITS

OU was ranked No. 1 in the WCGA preseason coaches poll, the sixth-straight season the Sooners have been ranked in the top two to begin the year.
Twelve of Oklahoma's 13 regular season opponents were ranked in the preseason coaches poll.
OU will face six preseason top-10 opponents during the 2020 season including No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Denver, No. 8 Georgia, No. 9 California and No. 10 Alabama.
Oklahoma returns seven previous NCAA All-Americans who own 23 total accolades: Jade Degouveia (VT, FX), Maggie Nichols (AA, VT, UB, BB, FX), Bre Showers (VT, AA), Karrie Thomas (UB), Olivia Trautman (FX), Anastasia Webb (UB, FX), Carly Woodard (BB).
The Sooners will be featured on ESPN networks four times during the regular season: at Arizona State (ESPN2), at Alabama (ESPN2), Denver (ESPNU) and the Big 12 Championship (ESPNU).

SCOUTING REPORTS

ARIZONA STATE
Arizona State comes in at No. 14 this week after also opening the 2020 season at the Collegiate Challenge. The Sun Devils are 2-1 on the year, defeating Auburn and Penn State in the opening meet, while coming in second place to No. 2 Denver. ASU posted a 194.675 in their season opener with a 48.900 on vault, a 48.525 on bars, 48.675 on beam and 48.575 on floor.

UP NEXT

The Sooners will head to SEC Country to face Alabama on Friday, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. CT. The meet will air on ESPN2.