Jan. 23, 2009

Complete Results

ATHENS, Ga. - The No. 9 ranked Alabama Gymnastics team fell to the No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs here in Stegeman Coliseum, 197.175-196.275, in front of 9,938 fans Friday night.

"Nobody likes to lose, I hate losing more than anybody, but that's the highest team score we've had this season," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "I'm encouraged by the steps we're taking and the improvements we're making. You look at some of the mistakes we made tonight and the people that we're missing from our lineup and that's still the highest team score we had this season. I look down the road and if we can get everybody healthy, we have the potential to be very, very good."

Junior Morgan Dennis led the Tide with a 39.400 in the all-around followed by junior Ricki Lebegern's 29.275 and senior Brittany Magee's 39.225. Georgia's Courtney Kupets won the all-around with a 39.825, fueled by 10s on the uneven bars and balance beam.

Magee won the vault while freshman Ashley Priess and junior Kassi Price posted Alabama's top scores on the uneven bars. Dennis led the Tide on the floor exercise while freshman Geralen Stack-Eaton used a career-high score to lead Alabama on the balance beam.

The Crimson Tide finished off strong with a season-best 49.250 on the balance beam led by Stack-Eaton's 9.9. Lebegern posted a 9.875 on the beam and Dennis and freshman Ashley Priess both scored 9.85s. It marked Alabama's third 49.2-plus score on the beam this season. The Bulldogs posted a 49.475 on the beam.

Lebegern got the Tide's meet off to a strong start scoring a career-best 9.85 on the uneven bars. Price and Priess finished the rotation off with matching 9.875s propelling Alabama to a 49.275, the Tide's best uneven bars score of the season by three-tenths of a point. Georgia scored a 49.525 on the uneven bars.

"We struggled on the uneven bars last week," Patterson said. "And tonight we had to start on that event and we did a great job."

Magee led the Tide to a 49.075 on the vault with a meet-best 9.875 while Lebegern and Dennis scored 9.85s to finish off the rotation. Stack-Eaton got the vault started with a 9.825. Georgia started the night off with a 48.975 on the vault.

The Tide struggled on the floor exercise, having to count three-tenths of a point in out-of-bounds deductions, scoring a 48.675 as a team. Dennis led the Tide with a 9.875 while Priess scored a 9.85. Georgia scored a 49.2 on the floor.

Alabama remains on the road next weekend, traveling to Fayetteville, Ark. to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks at 7 p.m. CT. It will mark the Tide's fourth meet in a row against SEC competition and its third road meet in its first four meets.