Some have called it the gymnastics' version of the "Game of the Century." No. 1 Oklahoma hosted No. 2 LSU on Friday in a showdown in Norman, Oklahoma, of the very best that particular college sport has to offer.
As most of the competitions between the country's top teams go, Friday night's 1 vs. 2 showdown came down to the final rotation, with the Sooners holding onto a narrow advantage. Oklahoma finished on the floor, while's LSU's final rotation was beam. The Sooners delivered a good-but-not-great performance on the floor, but it proved to be good enough for a 198.125-197.925 overall team victory, OU's 11th of the season without a loss.
No. 1 OU women gymnastics defeats No. 2 LSU in front of record crowd
Oklahoma took command in the opening rotation. Sophomore Elizabeth Blessey got things started for the Sooners with a career-best 9.975 leading off on vault. She was followed by three other 9.9 scores and a team score of 49.575 in the event. Meanwhile, LSU was putting up a score of 49.425 on bars. Oklahoma maintained the advantage through the remaining three events.
Friday Night Heights at the LNC ✨ pic.twitter.com/8wKYXtrYgg
— Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) February 21, 2026
Just how special are these two preeminent programs? Oklahoma (2022, 2023 and 2025) and LSU (2024) have won the last four national championships in women's gymnastics and were meeting for the second time this season on Friday night.
The two teams met in the season-opening Sprouts Market's Collegiate Quad, which also featured UCLA and Utah. OU and LSU ended that meet with top identical scores of 197.500, although the Sooners were awarded the championship trophy on the basis of a sixth-score tiebreaker (factoring the sixth score in all four team events).
LSU came into the head-to-head competition on Friday night with a definite score to settle, and the Sooners, of course, wanting to prove they deserved the No. 1, along with the reminder that they are the reigning national champions.
A record crowd of 10,234 was in attendance at OU's Lloyd Noble Center for the much-anticipated showdown of the top two teams in women's college gymnastics this season and for the last several. The record crowd topped the previous high mark of 10,177 for an OU home competition, set in 2019 in a meet hosting UCLA.
The Sooners have now defeated each of the teams this season that are currently ranked in the top six nationally. That list includes No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 UCLA and No. 6 Georgia.
Oklahoma eclipsed the 198 level for the fifth time this season. That represents exactly half of the total number of 198 scores by all NCAA Division-I teams this season. LSU's 197.925 score was the Tigers' third-highest of the season, but their best team mark in road competition.
The Sooners came away with the overall win, clinching at least a share of the SEC championship, won last year by LSU, but it was not the highlight of the meet.
LSU sophomore standout Kailin Chio delivered an individual performance that stole the show. She recorded two perfect 10s on the night, the first on vault in the Tigers' second rotation and a second 10 on beam in their final event. Those were her third and fourth perfect scores of the season and the fifth of her short career.
Chio did not have a score below 9.925 in any of her four events, which earned her the all-around title with a winning score of 39.850. Sooner sophomore Lily Pederson (39.650) and freshman Mackenzie Estep (39.450) both posted their highest all-around scores of their careers, but no one was going to touch Chio on this night.
The historic victory was Oklahoma's 94th straight home win at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners have not lost a gymnastics competition at the LNC since 2014. The opponent on that date: LSU.
The top-ranked Sooners have four more competition dates before the SEC Championships on March 21 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. OU hosts No. 18 Auburn on Friday. The Sooners have a meet at No. 7 Arkansas on March 6, back home to host Texas Women's University on March 8, and finish the regular season at No. 9 Michigan.