COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 8 Missouri gymnastics fell to No. 4 Alabama 197.225-195.500 Friday night at the Hearnes Center. Freshman Aspen Tucker (Lehigh Acres, Florida) claimed the all-around title with a career-best total of 39.325.
The Tigers fell to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference on the young season.
In addition to Tucker's title, sophomore Britney Ward (Ozark, Missouri) tied for the vault title with a career-best 9.950. Her total tied the fourth-highest vault score in program history.
Ward's vault highlighted a strong vault rotation for the Tigers to open the meet. The team went 49.225 to mark the third meet in a row Missouri scored at least that total on the apparatus. Tucker earned a 9.850 to start off her strong night, while junior Kennedi Harris (Atlanta, Georgia) and sophomore Madeleine Huber (St. Louis, Missouri) each tallied 9.825s. Additionally, sophomore Morgan Porter (Overland, Missouri) went 9.775.
Porter paced Missouri with a 9.850 on bars in the second rotation, as the team posted a 48.050 on the event. Tucker notched a personal-best 9.825 and junior Shauna Miller (Knoxville, Tennessee) earned a 9.775.
Five Tigers posted scores of 9.800 or higher on beam to propel the squad to a team total of 49.150, just off its season-high of 49.175 on the event. Ward and sophomore Brooke Kelly (Birmingham, Alabama) both tallied 9.875s, which tied a career-high for Kelly. Junior Tia Allbritten (Garland, Texas) went 9.800 in the leadoff position and classmate Becca Schugel (Eagan, Minnesota) also earned a 9.800.
Missouri closed the meet with a 49.075 on floor, paced by Harris' team-best 9.900. Tucker added another career-high after claiming a 9.850 and sophomore Allison Bower (Mesa, Arizona) notched a season-best 9.800 in only her second floor routine of the season. Senior Angie Kern (Columbia, Missouri) went 9.775 and Huber and Schugel added 9.750s.
The Tigers return to action on Friday, Jan. 27 when the team travels to Athens, Georgia, to face No. 16 Georgia at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) live on SEC Network +.
