No. 1 A&T Defeats No. 2 Oregon in Home Debut

Sunday, February 23

Ferrell Center

3:00 p.m. CT

Baylor

281.350

275.475

University of Oregon

No. 1 A&T Defeats No. 2 Oregon in Home Debut

2/23/2020 5:55:00 PM | Acrobatics & Tumbling

Baylor vs. Oregon Final Results

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Missing several key pieces from Baylor's fifth-consecutive national championship team, coach Felecia Mulkey has one of her youngest squads to date with five seniors and a total of 11 upperclassmen.
            With 2019 All-Americans Ashley Echelberger, Hope Bravo and Kaylee Adams sitting in the stands for Baylor's Alumni Meet, Mulkey's kiddie corps completed a comeback with a near-flawless team event as the top-ranked Bears (3-0) defeated No. 2 Oregon, 281.350-275.475, Sunday afternoon at the Ferrell Center.
            Facing a rare halftime deficit, Mulkey said she had a "flashback to those first couple years here where we really relied heavily on the second half."
            Oregon (2-1), which has lost to Baylor in four of the last five NCATA National Championship finals, had a slight lead at the midway point (96.15-95.85) and extended it by winning the toss event, 28.50-28.15.
            "Concern is the wrong word, but I never count Oregon out," said Mulkey, who won the first four NCATA national championships as the head coach at Oregon before winning the last five at Baylor. "We knew if we could keep it on the mat and land in tumbling, we would be good to go. And we knew that if we could nail the team event, we had a really good shot at winning, no matter what happened in the first half."
            That's exactly how it played out. Baylor and Oregon split the first four events, with the Ducks clinging to a .65-point lead.
            Baylor got strong individual tumbling passes from Elise Manning (9.825), Mercy Seay (9.85) and Briana Harris (9.875), but it was a slip by Oregon's Calyx Hampton in the quad pass that cracked the door open for the Bears' comeback.
            Fueled by a 1.25-point edge in the quad pass, Baylor won the tumbling event, 57.55-55.825, and completely turned the meet around to go up by better than a full point going into the closing team event.
            Manning said there was never a hint of concern "in Coach Fee's eyes."
            "We knew that tumbling was our strong event, and we were just ready for it going into it," said Manning, who outscored the Oregon athlete, 9.825-9.5500 in the aerial pass.
            Closing out a high-energy team event with its trademark "Sic 'em!" Baylor shattered its previous best in the team event by nearly five points with a 99.80 score that created the final separation. Oregon had some glaring slips in the team event and got a 95.00 score that left the Ducks almost six full points behind in the final tally.
            "A lot of our team is a majority of sophomores and freshmen," said Seay, who scored a 9.85 in the open pass, getting a huge hug from Mulkey as she came off the mat. "When we came into the season, we knew how much we had to change and all the extra hard work that had to be put into it. So, it was really amazing to see such a young class of girls be able to pull it off."
            Baylor won its 34^th meet in a row and 24^th-straight at home, with Mulkey improving to 56-1 overall and 14-1 against her former school.
            "I got a bobble head," Mulkey said of the special Felecia Mulkey bobble heads that were passed out at the door. "I get all this. But, we win these meets because of (assistant coaches) Kelsey Rowell and Kaelyn Cowan. They're our tumbling coaches, and that's where we're strong. So, shout out to them, because they're the real MVPs."
            In the second of three home meets, Baylor will face fifth-ranked Gannon (2-0) at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 3.

WACO, TX – The No. 1-ranked Bears improved to 3-0 on the season after defeating #2 Oregon, 281.350–275.475 on Sunday afternoon in the Ferrell Center.

The Bears scored a total of 281.350 on the day, led by season-high scores in tumbling (57.550) and team (99.80).

The Bears started strong, following the compulsory event, scoring 37.80 to the Duck's 37.45.

After the acro event, Oregon took the lead, scoring 9.80 in the fifth element, 9.65 in the sixth element, 9.85 in the seventh element for a total of 29.30.

In pyramid, the Ducks kept their lead by outscoring the Bears, 29.60-29.40.

Heading into the half, the Ducks stayed on top with a score of 96.15 - 95.85.

In toss, the Bears scored 28.15 out of a possible 29.80 while the Ducks extended their lead, 124.65-124.00.

Baylor took the lead back after the tumbling event, scoring season-high scores in four of the six heats. The Bears scored 9.700 in duo pass, 9.100 in trio pass, 9.200 in the quad pass, and 9.825 in aerial pass. Overall, the Bears scored 57.550 to take the 181.550 to 180.475 lead heading into the team event.

The Bears put up a season-high score of 99.80 in the team event, securing the 281.350 to 275.475 win over Oregon.

Head coach Felecia Mulkey is now 56-1 all-time as the Bears' head coach and

STAT OF THE DAY
4 – The Bears had season-high scores in four of the six heats in the tumbling event.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
On Feelings Throughout Meet...
"It was a flashback for me to my first couple of years here. We relied heavily on the second half in our tumbling and passes. Cleanliness in our tumbling in the first couple of years was a strong suit. We are a young team now, so the next time you see us, we will be better in the first half. We took some risks today and threw some stuff in the toss event. I never count Oregon out. They are a good team and even better this year, so it was a really fun meet. We knew if we could land and keep it on the mat, we would be good to go. We knew we had a really good shot at winning."

NEXT UP
The Bears are back in action on Tuesday, Mar. 3 at 6 p.m. CT back in the Ferrell Center vs. Gannon University.