OU to Host Denver in Top-10 Battle

¹ Oklahoma

6 Denver

Saturday, Feb. 29 / 11:15 a.m. CT / Norman, Okla. / Lloyd Noble Center

EPSNU / Live Stats / Meet Notes / Tickets

NORMAN – The No. 1 Oklahoma women's gymnastics team is set to host its third conference meet of the season as No. 6 Denver makes the trek to Norman for a Saturday morning meet. The two teams will go head-to-head on ESPNU at 11:30 a.m. CT with Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke on the call.

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET TEN

LOOK BACK IT
The Sooners clinched the title at the Perfect 10 Challenge on Feb. 21, defeating No. 25 Stanford 197.650-196.000 in Oklahoma City. OU improved to 14-0 on the season and extended its win streak to 46 victories.

Olivia Trautman was perfect on vault as she earned her second career perfect 10. Trautman's first career perfect score came at the 2019 Perfect 10 Challenge when she anchored floor with a 10.0. Anastasia Webb continued her streak of winning the all-around title with a 39.650 for the second week in a row. The junior also picked up the beam title with a 9.925 and was nearly perfect on vault with a 9.975.

Ragan Smith won four titles on the night, including sharing the all-around title with a career-best 39.650. Smith also shared beam (9.925), bars (9.95) and won floor outright with a near perfect 9.975. Smith set career highs on both floor and vault.

HOME SWEET HOME
OU is to 106-4 inside Lloyd Noble Center since the arrival of head coach K.J. Kindler in 2007. The Sooners have posted 30 consecutive victories dating back to 2014 and the 2020 senior class has never lost a home meet in their career. OU has four home victories this season with wins over Arkansas (Jan. 20), Iowa State (Jan. 31), TWU (Feb. 14) and West Virginia (Feb. 14).

NQS BREAKDOWN
The Oklahoma women's gymnastics team is ranked No. 1 in the nation for the eighth consecutive week. This week marks the first time this season that rankings have been determined by national qualifying scores (NQS). NQS is based on a team's six best regular season scores, three of which must be away. The overall high score is eliminated, and the five remaining scores are averaged. NQS scores are used to determine seeding for NCAA regional competition at six campus sites on April 2-4.

The Sooners mark of 197.930 is the highest opening NQS score in program history. OU has been ranked No. 1 in the first NQS ranking of the season for the last six seasons. Additionally, the Sooners rank in the top three on all four events, including the top spot on vault and bars with a 49.550 NQS on both events. The Sooners rank second on beam (49.470) and third on floor (49.465).

TEN POINT "O"
Sophomore Olivia Trautman became the fourth gymnast this season to earn a perfect 10 on vault and the third in the Big 12 when she earned a perfect score on Feb. 21. Trautman joins teammate Maggie Nichols, former club teammate and current Denver gymnast Maddie Karr and LSU's Kiya Johnson as the only athletes to earn a perfect mark on vault. The sophomore was the first gymnast at OU not named Maggie Nichols to earn a perfect 10 this season.

KINDLER VS. THE BIG 12
In 14 seasons, Kindler is 77-3 against current and former members of the Big 12 (not including regionals and NCAA Championships). Against current members of league (Denver, Iowa State, West Virginia), Kindler is undefeated in the regular season with a 38-0 record. At the Big 12 Championship, she is undefeated against current members with a 13-0 record against Iowa State, 7-0 record against West Virginia and 4-0 over Denver. OU will host all three Big 12 schools at Lloyd Noble Center in 2020. The Sooners defeated Iowa State on Jan. 31 and West Virginia on Feb. 14.

SEEING DOUBLE
For the fourth time this season, the Sooners are seeing a team they have previously faced. OU is 9-0 against teams they will face more than once this season and can improve to 10-0 with a win on Saturday. OU and Denver went head-to-head at the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, on Jan. 25 with the Sooners coming away the victors. OU will face Denver three times in 2020 with the final meeting between the two teams coming at the Big 12 Championships on March 21 in Morgantown, W.Va.

The Sooners faced Alabama twice in an eight-day span. OU traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Jan. 17 before heading to the Metroplex Challenge on Jan. 25 where Alabama was one of four teams in the quad meet. OU competed at TWU on Sunday, Feb. 9, and faced them five days later in Norman. The Sooners opened their season against Stanford before facing them again on Feb. 21. The Sooners have faced both Iowa State and West Virginia this season and will compete against both again at the Big 12 Championship.

SMITH, WEBB HONORED BY BIG 12
Freshman Ragan Smith and junior Anastasia Webb were named the Big 12 Newcomer and Gymnast of the Week, respectively, after career performances last Friday night. Webb was named the Gymnast of the Week for the second time this season while Smith was named Newcomer of the Week for a league-best fifth time.

Webb won her fifth straight all-around title with an impressive 39.650, her third such score of the season. The junior tied her career high on vault with a 9.975 and added two other scores of 9.9-plus with a 9.925 on beam and a 9.9 floor. Her impressive and near-perfect vault score catapulted her to a No. 2 ranking on the event. Webb shared the event title on beam with Smith as she took home a pair of titles on the night. Webb posted a top-three score on every event and now has 14 event titles this season.

Smith had a career night as she tallied an incredible 39.650 in the all-around to set a new career high and tie for the all-around title. Smith has competed in the all-around just three times and is one of just 12 athletes to reach a mark of 39.650 this season. Smith took home four event titles and posted three career highs with a 9.975 on floor, a 9.95 on bars and 9.800 on vault. Smith shared the all-around, bars and beam titles while earning floor outright. The freshman now has a career-high of at least 9.95 on three of four events.

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.

SCOUTING DENVER
After appearing in their first NCAA Finals in program history in 2019, Denver has been a top five team the first seven weeks of the season. The Pioneers are No. 6 in the first NQS rankings of 2020 as the Sooners host their first top-10 team of the season. Maddie Karr is one of just two athletes ranked in the top 10 on all four events and the all-around this season and is one of four athletes with a perfect score on vault this season. The Pioneers are ranked in the top 10 on three of four events coming in at No. 3 on bars, No. 5 on beam, No. 10 on vault and No. 16 on floor.

UP NEXT

The Sooners will return to Lloyd Noble Center for their final home dual meet of the season on Friday, March 6, as they take on No. 7 Michigan on Senior Night. Seniors Jade Degouveia, Maggie Nichols and Bre Showers will be honored in a post-meet ceremony.