Michigan State University
NCAA Regional Second Round
Stephen’s Perfect 10.000 Sends Spartans to NCAA University Park Regional Final
4/3/2025 4:20:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Eighth-seeded Michigan State gymnastics recorded its best-ever finish at a regional semifinal, scoring a 197.625 to finish first ahead No. 9 Kentucky, Ohio State and Penn State at Penn State's Rec Hall Thursday afternoon and advance its fourth-straight regional final.
MSU narrowly edged out the Wildcats, who finished second with a 197.525 to join the Spartans in Saturday's regional final. Ohio State finished third with a 196.400 and Penn State scored a 196.225 to place fourth. The Spartans and Wildcats will face the top two teams from Thursday's second semifinal - No. 1 LSU (198.100) and No. 16 Arkansas (197.550) - on Saturday, April 5 at 5 p.m. in Rec Hall. The top two teams from the regional final will advance to the NCAA Championships beginning April 17 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
Senior Gabrielle Stephen earned the top scores of the session on vault, bars and in the all-around, scoring a perfect 10.000 on vault, season-high 9.950 on bars and career-high 39.750 in the all-around. She captured the outright title in the all-around and on vault and shared the bars title with Michigan's Carly Baumann and Arkansas' Maddie Jones from the second semifinal and has now collected four regional titles in her career.
"This was one of the steps we were missing from past years, coming in first in the semifinals," said head coach Mike Rowe. "We're primed and ready to go and know all of the little things we need to fix to score even higher. We're pumped. It was a great warm up day for us. Very excited, very proud of them."
MSU opened the meet with a 49.400 on floor to take the lead over second-place Kentucky by a half tenth after the first rotation. Fifth-year senior Delanie Harkness, junior Nikki Smith and Stephen led the Spartans with matching 9.900s. Harkness' 9.900 tied her season high. In the second spot, sophomore MaKayla Tucker scored a 9.825, followed by junior Elle Beaufait with a 9.850 in the third spot. Senior Skyla Schulte anchored with a 9.850. Harkness, Smith and Stephen earned a tie for second place in the session with their 9.900s.
The Spartans increased their lead over the Wildcats to just under two tenths after a 49.525 on vault, which tied for the sixth-best vault score in program history, in the second rotation. Stephen tallied the first 10.000 on vault of her career and second perfect 10.000 in as many after posting a perfect score on beam at the Big Ten Championships on March 22. She became the fifth Spartan overall to earn a 10.000 on vault. MSU also posted a pair of 9.900-plus scores, with junior Olivia Zsarmani scoring a 9.900 in the third spot and junior Sage Kellerman adding a 9.925 with a stuck vault in the anchor spot to finish second. Tucker, Smith and freshman Amy Doyle scored 9.850s.
A 49.450 on bars helped MSU increase its lead over Kentucky by over two tenths with one rotation remaining. Stephen continued her spectacular afternoon with a season-high 9.950 to lead the Spartans in the second spot, earning the top spot in the session. Smith scored a 9.925 to finish in a tie for second. Kellerman scored a 9.875 in the anchor spot, Doyle and Zsarmani scored 9.850s and Harkness earned a 9.825.
MSU held off Kentucky in the final rotation with a 49.250 on beam. Stephen anchored with a 9.900, her fourth 9.900-plus score of the day, to lead MSU in the anchor spot. Smith scored a 9.875 in the fifth spot, while Harkness posted a season-high 9.850, Schulte posted another 9.850 in the leadoff position, freshman Cady Duplissis scored a 9.775 and sophomore Emma Misenheimer earned a 9.750.
Stephen's 39.750 put her second on MSU's all-time list in the all-around just behind Smith's 39.775 record from 2023. Smith finished second in the all-around in the session behind Stephen with a 39.550, tying her second-best all-around score of the season.
The NCAA University Park Regional Final is set for 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 5 on ESPN+.
Players Mentioned
