BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 8 California women's gymnastics gave SEC Champion and No. 4 LSU an early scare with a tied meet halfway through, but the Golden Bears fell to the Tigers in the 2019 season opener. The Bears recorded their highest score in a season opener in school history, but LSU topped Cal 196.775-195.650 Friday night at the Maravich Center in Baton Rouge, La.

"We were really happy with the fact that this is a new experience for us, to travel across the country for our very first meet. We lost a training day and started earlier than we typically start the season, but we're finding grit in these experiences that are different and making them uncomfortable. You can't really replicate that in the gym," said head coach Liz Crandall-Howell. "We knew it was going to be different, but we were really excited and the team did great at being able to adapt to the environment. I was really proud of them and their energy on the floor."
 
A pair of Golden Bears finished in the top three on an event, with Milan Clausi earning third on vault in her California debut and fifth-year senior Toni-Ann Williams taking third on floor. Clausi was one of four freshmen to make her first appearance in a Cal lineup and was joined by Abi Solari, Talitha Jones and Maya Bordas.

"It was really encouraging to see our freshmen step up in that environment. It could have been really scary, to be an environment like that. We had some really awesome moments, from Abi competing her vault for the first time to Milan handling all her events gracefully," Crandall-Howell said.
 
Cal took an early lead on LSU with a strong debut on bars, tallying a 49.125 on the event. Event anchor Emi Watterson matched her personal best 9.875 on the event to share the team lead with Nina Schank, and Jones made her first appearance as a Golden Bear in the No. 3 spot with a 9.75.
 
Two misses on vault forced the Tigers to count a 9.35, and after the first rotation the Tigers trailed the Bears 49.125-48.825.
 
While the Bears turned in another 6-for-6 rotation on vault, LSU gained ground with a big vault set, outscoring Cal 49.350-49.050 in the second rotation. Cal's vault lineup included the debuts of freshmen Solari and Clausi. Solari earned a 9.70, and Clausi went 9.85 to lead the Bears on the event alongside Toni-Ann Williams. Clausi's 9.85 for her high-level Yurchenko 1.5 tied for third on the event. Rachael Mastrangelo anchored with a 9.825, matching her career-best total on the event.
 
At the halfway point, both teams were tied a 98.175.
 
Cal rebounded from a slow start on floor with four scores of 9.80 or better to end the rotation. Solari and Clausi continued their strong debuts, with Clausi's 9.825 ranking second among the Bears. Her floor routine included two E level tumbling passes, including a full in and front double full, as the Bears showcased their high-difficulty routines. Solari anchored with a 9.80, endcapping a 9.85 performance by Williams that took third on the event. Kyana George also tallied a 9.80, contributing to the Bears' 48.950 total.

"Across the board, our difficulty has come up and there was just an ease and level of expectation that they had while competing these skills tonight. There was a calm ownership about what they were doing, and that was awesome to see," Crandall-Howell said.
 
LSU's 49.325 on beam gave the Tigers the edge, 147.500-147.125 through three sets.
 
Cal wrapped on balance beam, an event that the Bears ranked 12th in the country on last season. Chelsea Shu and Clausi began the rotation with back-to-back 9.725s, and the beam team peaked with a 9.75 from Cassidy Keelen. A fourth California freshman made her debut when Bordas anchored the event. Bordas earned a 8.95, but her gritty performance was highlighted with a spectacular save to keep herself from falling off the apparatus. The Bears earned a 48.525 total for the event.

"This was one of the strongest showings we've had, especially with the difficulty of skills we had in a season-opening meet," Crandall Howell said. "This will go a long way in building their confidence."
 
Next up, the Bears head back to California but remain on the road for the Collegiate Challenge presented by Under Armour. Cal will face UCLA, Michigan State and UC Davis at the Anaheim Convention Center on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m.