FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ? The No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats posted a season-high 195.200 team score, but were unable to overcome the No. 9 Arkansas Lady Razorbacks who scored a school record 196.225 at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Ark., Friday evening.
Kentucky senior co-captain Aronda Primault scored a season-high 39.200 all-around to lead the Cats. Primault claimed the vault title (9.875) and finished second in the all-around despite suffering through a sore ankle that has hampered her the entire season.
?Aronda was slightly injured and worked hard to come through like a champ,? said Kentucky head coach ?Mo? Muhammad.
Junior co-captain Michelle Gales was the Wildcats? top competitor in the first rotation as she scored a career-high 9.850 on the uneven bars. Gales finished first individually on bars and led Kentucky to a 48.825 team score through the first rotation. Arkansas gymnasts Dana McQuillin (9.850) and Kathy Thompson (9.825) led the Lady Razorbacks to a 49.000 team score on vault and UA held a 0.175 lead over the Cats after the first rotation.
The Wildcats rallied in the second rotation, which featured Kentucky on vault and Arkansas on bars. Primault led the Wildcats on vault by posting a season-high 9.875 while freshmen Krystle Cook (9.850), Rachel Riley (9.800) and Alison Sarucci (9.775) set new career-highs in the event. Primault took home individual honors on vault leading Kentucky to a team 49.075, which is a season-high. UK held a slim 97.900 ? 97.850 lead going into the third rotation.
Riley led the Wildcats on floor exercise with her ballet-like performance that drew praise from the crowd of 4,056 fans and judges as she received a career-high 9.875 score. Sarucci (9.775) and Cook (9.725) also scored personal bests on the floor exercise as Kentucky posted a 48.875 in the event. Arkansas put together a strong performance on beam with a team 49.050 and led the Wildcats 146.900 ? 146.775 after three rotations.
Arkansas freshman Kathy Thompson and sophomore McQuillin both set new a school record with 9.900 floor exercise performances and the Lady Razorbacks posted a school record 49.325 team score in the event. Cook was Kentucky?s top performer on beam with a career-high 9.825, but Kentucky was unable to overcome Arkansas? strong floor showing on the final rotation.
?We got much better on beam, but we let up on bars and floor by making some uncharacteristic mistakes,? Muhammad said. ?We are going up every meet and that is a positive thing we want to look at and have our athletes take away from this.?
The Wildcats are back in action Friday, Jan. 24 at No. 10 Georgia. Fans can watch the meet between Kentucky and Arkansas in its entirety on Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. ET on Fox Sports South.
Attendance: 4,056
Kentucky scores
Bars: 48.825
Michelle Gales 9.850
Staci O?Keefe 9.775
Aronda Primault 9.750
Julie Joy 9.750
Rachel Riley 9.700
Krystle Cook 9.100
Vault: 49.075
Aronda Primault 9.875
Krystle Cook 9.850
Rachel Riley 9.800
Alison Sarucci 9.775
Michelle Gales 9.775
Lindsay Cameron 9.575
Floor: 48.875
Rachel Riley 9.875
Aronda Primault 9.825
Alison Sarucci 9.775
Krystle Cook 9.725
Michelle Gales 9.675
Julie Joy 9.400
Beam: 48.425
Krystle Cook 9.825
Aronda Primault 9.750
Staci O?Keefe 9.650
Michelle Gales 9.625
Julie Joy 9.575
Rachel Riley 8.975
All-Around:
Aronda Primault 39.200
Michelle Gales 38.925
Krystle Cook 38.500
Rachel Riley 38.350
