LEXINGTON, Ky.?The No. 6 Georgia Gymnastics squad scored 48.850 or better on each of its four events to defeat No. 17 Kentucky 195.850-193.325 Friday evening in Memorial Coliseum. UGA freshman Katie Heenan scored a 39.200 to claim the meet?s all-around title.

The Wildcats (1-2) were led by senior Michelle Gales? 38.700 and sophomore Rachel Riley?s 38.425 in all-around competition. Kentucky, in characteristic fashion, thrived on its floor exercise to close the meet with a 48.900 on floor. Gales led the Cats with a 9.850 score on floor, while freshmen Crissy Cannon and Kristen O?Shields each tied career-highs with 9.775 scores.

?Crissy put together three good events for us tonight,? UK head coach Mo Muhammad said. ?She stepped up big and her leadership helped the team.?

UK began the night on vault, tallying a 48.700 on the event. Gales? 9.825 mark led the Cats and Riley followed with a 9.775. Georgia opened with its best performance of the year on bars with a 49.150, also its highest on the four events. Sophomore Ashley Kupets registered an event-high 9.875 score on bars, as each of the Gym Dogs? performers scored above a 9.775.

?We did better on vault and finally made our bar sets even though our scores did not indicate that,? said Muhammad.

On its second rotation, Kentucky scored a 48.325 on bars with sophomore Krystle Cook earned a 9.775 and Riley tallied a 9.700. The Gym Dogs took a 98.025-97.025 lead after two events heading into the Wildcats showing on beam.

Two gymnasts?Nikki Childs and Kelsey Ericksen?led the way for Georgia with a team score of 48.975 on floor, while the Cats managed a 47.400 score on beam with Cannon?s 9.650 leading UK.

Kentucky returns to action Friday, Jan. 28 as it travels to Auburn, Ala., to face the Auburn Tigers. Meet time is set for 8 p.m. EST in Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum. For more information, log on to ukathletics.com.

– UK –