STANFORD, Calif. – No. 23 California women's gymnastics turned in its best road outing of the season to top No. 25 Stanford, 196.700-196.425, Saturday evening at Maples Pavilion.
 
Kyana George tied her career-high all-around total with a 39.400, and the Bears tallied 10 top-three finishes.
 
The Golden Bears battled back from early mishaps to take the win. In previous road meets, spotty warmups and an opening mistake on the uneven bars might cause mental errors and anxiety throughout the lineup that would inevitably seep into later routines. Not tonight. Despite a fall in Cal's leadoff routine in the very first event of the night, the uneven bars, the Bears hung tough and displayed their continued growth.
 
"What I was most pleased with was that warmups were not great – we were vaulting kind of blah, and bars we were struggling to get the timing on – and I had some question marks, but they finished warmups, came out of the locker room and remember who they are, and that was critical," said head coach Justin Howell. "That moment was pivotal for this competition to go well. I was really pleased with that."
 
For the second week in a row, Cal posted a 49.0+ on bars. Nina Schank took second and led Cal with a 9.875 while Williams and Yuleen Sternberg each matched their season-high 9.85s on the event, sharing third on the event with George.
 
After the first rotation, Stanford held a slight edge over Cal, 49.225-49.125.
 
The Bears followed it up with a 6-for-6 vault outing, with Arianna Robinson setting a career-high 9.95 with her unique front-entry Piked Ilg vault to lead the lineup. Alicia Gallarzo also put up career totals, matching her best with a 9.875 for third place. Every gymnast in the lineup scored above a 9.775, and for the second event in a row, Cal scored above a 49.0 with the second-highest vault total of the season, a 49.275.
 
Cal's vault total was enough to propel the Bears past the Cardinal, 98.400-97.975 after two rotations.
 
Rotation No. 3 saw the Bears pull away from the Cardinal completely as once again Cal went 6-for-6 on floor. Despite the absence of Williams, ranked No. 22 in the nation on the event, the Bears saw 9.80s or better from five gymnasts in the lineup to combine for a 49.200. The senior Gallarzo, who made her career debut on the event in the anchor spot, led with a 9.875, taking second only behind Stanford's Elizabeth Price's perfect 10, and Chelsea Shu set a career-high 9.85.
 
"I was super pleased with Alicia Gallarzo," Howell said. "To add to our depth with that kind of scoring potential is big when we need to rest Toni-Ann, or just shuffle some things around. We've got some real, big usable scores that we can put in and that's a great place to be."
 
Cal capped off the meet with the team's second-best beam score of the season, a 49.100. Cassidy Keelen matched her career-high 9.85 to share second on the event with George.

 
"Coming into this building at Stanford, which is a difficult place to compete and to get a great road score is a huge confidence builder for us. Coming off a great weekend last weekend and doing it on the road this weekend helps solidify with the team that this is who they are and they can do this," Howell said.
 
"Going out and hitting routines and getting good scores and beating Stanford on the road is fun. Come on, it's Cal-Stanford. It's always fun. You could see that with the way we performed tonight." He added.
 
Next up for the Bears is perennial powerhouse Utah, who heads to Haas Pavilion for a Sunday matinee. The meet is set for 11 a.m. on Feb. 25 and airs live on Pac-12 Networks. Use code "CALGYMCLUB" at www.calbears.com/code for up to six free tickets to each Cal home meet this season.