TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama Crimson Tide took on the Arkansas Razorbacks on Senior Night. The Crimson
Tide honored its seniors – Sania Mitchell, Griffin James, Kaylee Quinn, Emily Gaskins, Shallon
Olsen and Lexie Graber. After falling short to Georgia last weekend, the Razorbacks were
looking for their first conference win.
The Tide started hot on the vault with a 9.900 from Olsen. Freshman Jordyn Paradise earned a
9.950 and led the Tide to a solid 49.300 in the event. The Razorbacks had a few setbacks on the
uneven bars but finished strong with a 9.900 from Kennedy Hambrick. Alabama took the lead
49.300-48.825 at the end of the first rotation.
Gaskins kicked off the uneven bars with a 9.900 and continued to earn huge scores throughout
the rotation. Freshman Lily Hudson scored a 9.925 and finished the rotation with near-perfect
scores from Makarri Doggette (9.950) and Luisa Blanco (9.975). The team finished the second-
best uneven bar total in school history and extended the lead to 98.950-97.975.
On the balance beam, Graber broke her season-high score with a 9.950. Mati Waligora and Ella
Burgess scored 9.990s and helped the Tide finish with a 49.425 on the event. The Crimson Tide
closed the meet on the floor and finished with five scores in the 9.900s. Olsen started the event
with her career-best of 9.925, followed by Mitchell setting a new career-high of 9.950. Alabama
downs the Razorbacks with the second-best score in program history, 198.075-196.000.
Alabama head coach Dana Duckworth could not hide the smile after the win.
“Tonight, we were on fire. I literally had a smile on my face the whole way, I couldn’t stop
smiling. And it didn’t really have to do with the scores. It had to do with watching them put every
single thing they had into every single moment tonight,” Duckworth said.
“We said tonight we wanted to start strong, we wanted to stay strong and we wanted to finish strong. And they accomplished all of that.”
The Crimson Tide will travel to Huntsville on Sunday to close out the regular season in Elevate
the Stage.
Alabama will face off against Auburn, Georgia, and Arkansas again.
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