Gymnastics Earns First Win and Tops Defending Conference Champions William & Mary

Friday, January 15

Williamsburg, VA.

7:00 PM

Temple University

190.150

190.100

William and Mary

Freshman India Anderson

Gymnastics Earns First Win and Tops Defending Conference Champions William & Mary

1.15.16 | Women's Gymnastics

WILLIAMSBURG, VA. – In the Owls' first conference dual meet, Temple women's gymnastics earned its first win of the season topping the Tribe of William and Mary with a score of 190.15 to the Tribe's 190.05. This is the program's first victory over William and Mary since 2012.

"I was extrememly proud of the way the girls were able to finish today's meet," said head coach Umme Salim-Beasley. "We started out slow on bars and we lost Kerry Arone during warm ups. So for the team to get their mindsets together after that is always a difficult thing and we were happy our alternates were prepared and stepped up".

The Owls notched three season-high event totals led by a 48.15 vault score. Sophomore Gina Tucker hit her first vault of the season to earn a career-high 9.7 that ranked third overall. India Anderson, Sahara Gipson and Briana Odom continued their consistency on the event, earning scores of 9.65, 9.675 and 9.55 respectively. Transfer freshman Aya Mahgoub made her debut for the Owls and contributed a solid 9.575 to round out the vault line-up.

Beam totaled a score of 47.65 with a group of consistent routines from the Owls. Gipson hit a career-high 9.725 to take first place overall and earn her first beam title. Freshman Breahna Wiczkowski also continued her success of beam, hitting a 9.65. Odom and Reagan Oliveri added another hit to their season, logging a 9.525 and 9.6 for their efforts, respectively.

On the floor, the Owls once again hit a season-high event total. Their 47.45 floor score was led by Anderson who posted a 9.7. In her first floor appearance, sophomore Alexa Phillip hit a 9.6 to continue the success on the event. Gipson added a 9.5.

"The team continued to not let any lower scores or mishaps bother them throughout the meet," said Salim-Beasley. "They really showed off their floor routines and settled in once we got to beam. They were aggressive with their routines and that is something we had been working on all week".

The bar team was led by Phillip, who landed a 9.775 to take first among all gymnasts on the event, earning her first bar title. Wiczkowski also made a debut event appearance, anchoring the bar lineup with a 9.475. Odom continued her consistency on bars adding a 9.6 to the Owls' 46.9 event total.

Gipson and Odom competed on all four events with Odom earning a 38.1 to take second place behind the Tribe's Brittany Stover. Gipson was not far behind with a 38.0, taking third.

"The girls are very excited with this first win, especially with it being a conference win," said Salim-Beasley. "For us to be on a high going into Sunday's meet, it shows us what we are capable of and recognize that we are capable of so much more".

The Owls look to take the momentum and improvements from today into their second meet of the weekend at #7 George Washington on Sunday. The five-team meet is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. and will feature two more ECAC opponents in Penn and Cornell.