Michigan State University
Ohio State
No. 4 Michigan State Knocks Off No. 14 Ohio State in Columbus
1/24/2025 9:31:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A season-high 49.450 on vault highlighted a 196.800-195.750 win for No. 4 Michigan State gymnastics over No. 14 Ohio State Friday night in Columbus.Â
The Spartans move to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten with the win, while the Buckeyes fall to 2-3 (1-1 B1G). Â
Led by senior Gabrielle Stephen's 39.375 victory in the all-around, MSU captured at least a share of every event title. MSU's 196.800 was its third-highest team score of the season.Â
"I'm happy that we took our show on the road, and even with a little bit of adversity on our part, still found our grit and did some great things," said head coach Mike Rowe. "Bars, we hit routines, missed a few handstands and landings, but nothing really major. Nailing four stuck landings on vault was something we've really been working on and it paid off for us tonight for our season high. We put up some solid floor routines, and the scores seemed a little tight in our book, but that's the nature of our sport. On beam, we had some great effort and aggressive routines but a couple of uncharacteristic instances that fortunately didn't cost us too much. All in all, it was a great effort by everyone, and we're thrilled to have come away with the win. Olivia Zsarmani was also missed due to illness, but her teammates had her back and kept us in our game."Â
MSU opened the meet with a 49.100 on bars to take a 49.100-48.950 lead after the first rotation. Juniors Nikki Smith and Sage Kellerman shared the event title with matching 9.850s, with Smith earning her first title of the season on the event and Kellerman collecting her second in as many meets. Freshman Amy Doyle, fifth-year senior Delanie Harkness and sophomore MaKayla Tucker, who made her collegiate debut on the event, posted 9.800s. Stephen scored a 9.775 in the lead off spot.Â
A spectacular 49.450 from MSU on vault gave the Spartans a 98.550-97.725 lead through two events. MSU stuck four out of six vaults en route to its season high on the event, which also tied for the fourth-best vault score in school history. Smith earned her second event title of night with a 9.950, capturing her third title and score of 9.950 on the vault this season. Tucker and Kellerman tied for second place with 9.900s, while Doyle and freshman teammate Cady Duplissis scored 9.850s and Stephen added a 9.800. Doyle's appearance in the vault lineup was her first as a Spartan.Â
The Spartans increased their lead by over a point, 147.850-146.550, after a 49.300 on floor in the third rotation. Senior Skyla Schulte and Stephen scored 9.900s to share the event title with Ohio State's Rylee Guevara, each earning their second floor titles of the season. Smith scored a 9.850, while Tucker and junior Elle Beaufait earned 9.825s.Â
MSU wrapped up the night on beam with a 48.950. Stephen tied a season-high 9.900 to lead the Spartans on the event and earn a share of her first beam title of the season with the Buckeyes' Courtney McCann. Fifth-year senior Giana Kalefe also tied a season-high with a 9.875 in the lead off spot. Schulte scored 9.750, while Duplissis added a 9.725 and sophomore Emma Misenheimer scored a 9.700.Â
Smith finished second in the all-around behind Stephen with a 39.250. Ohio State's Tory Vetter scored a 38.575 to finish third.Â
Up next, MSU travels to Los Angeles to take on conference newcomer UCLA on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 5:30 p.m. ET. The meet will be broadcast nationally on FOX.Â
Players Mentioned
