LOS ANGELES -- On senior day for UCLA, the seventh-ranked Bruins received career-best all-around performances from seniors Samantha Peszek and Olivia Courtney, but sophomore Danusia Francis may have stolen the show with a perfect 10 on balance beam.
The Bruins (9-3) won the meet with a score of 197.050, their third consecutive 197 of the season. Utah State was second with 196.00, and Bowling Green was third with 194.175. Peszek won the all-around with a career-high 39.7, and Courtney also set a new career high with a 39.625. Peszek won vault with a 9.95 and nearly scored her second perfect 10 of the year on bars, falling just shy with a 9.975. Courtney won floor with a career-high-tying 9.95.
Although the Bruins had to count a fall on beam, UCLA still hit the 197 plateau thanks to nine scores of 9.9 or better. The Bruins earned 49.5 on bars and 49.4 on floor to offset the 48.975 on beam and 49.175 on vault.
The Bruins had four stuck vaults to start the meet, starting with Jennifer Pinches, who scored 9.8. The back three of Sydney Sawa, Peszek and Courtney all stuck their vaults as well, giving UCLA 9.85, 9.95 and 9.925, respectively. The Bruins did, however, have to count a 9.65, dropping their total to 49.175.
UCLA had its best rotation of the day on uneven bars in rotation two, Moving to uneven bars in rotation two, the Bruins hit three consecutive 9.85 scores from Francis, Hallie Mossett and Sawa. Courtney broke the streak with a 9.9, and Sophina DeJesus did one better with a 9.925. Peszek finished the set with a 9.975, earning one a 10.0 from one of the two judges to bump UCLA's bars score to 49.5.
Although the Bruins had to count a fall, they still scored relatively well on balance beam with a 48.975 thanks to a 9.825 leadoff mark by Mossett, 9.85 from Courtney, 9.925 from Peszek and Francis' 10. DeJesus fell on her flight series but was otherwise flawless and scored 9.375. UCLA ended the day on floor exercise, where all six competitors scored 9.825 or better. Pinches started with a 9.825, and Francis earned 9.875. Sadiqua Bynum followed with a score of 9.825, and Peszek, making her Pauley Pavilion floor debut, scored 9.85. Courtney electrified the arena with huge tumbling, scoring a career-high-tying 9.95 in her last routine in Pauley Pavilion, and Sawa ended the meet and her run in Pauley Pavilion with a 9.9.
