

Oklahoma and Missouri will compete for the NCAA team title at the final four on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 7 Missouri and No. 12 Alabama opened Thursday’s competition with nervous gymnastics, and few stuck landings; all four teams underscored their national qualifying scores.
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Oklahoma took the lead after the first rotation and stayed on top through the end. Florida was in second place after the first two rotations but opened the door for Missouri in the third rotation, counting two vault scores in the 9.7s for a vault score of 49.075, the team’s lowest in five years.
The battle between Florida and Missouri for the second spot in the final came down to the last routine. Ultimately, a clutch 9.9875 from beam star Helen Hu secured Missouri the upset over Florida. By advancing to the finals, Missouri also guarantees its highest NCAA finish ever. The Tigers previously placed fifth in 2022.
Call her the closer.
Helen Hu clinched a 9.9875 on beam for the Tigers.#NCAAGYM x 🎥 ESPN2 / @MizzouGym pic.twitter.com/6MjdcjTQwW
— NCAA Gymnastics (@NCAA_Gymnastics) April 17, 2025
Florida finished third, making it the second time in 10 years the Gators have missed the finals. Alabama finished fourth in the first session.
In the second rotation, Lily Pederson put the pressure on Oklahoma with a fall on beam. A missed connection from Keira Wells meant the Sooners had to count a 9.775, but hits from the rest of the lineup, including a 9.9375 from Jordan Bowers and a 9.95 from anchor Faith Torrez got Oklahoma through.
Pressure makes diamonds.
9.9500 – Faith Torrez closed out beam in a big way for the Sooners.#NCAAGYM x 📷 ESPN2 / @OU_WGymnastics pic.twitter.com/6AMRCxMiuu
— NCAA Gymnastics (@NCAA_Gymnastics) April 17, 2025
Going into Saturday’s team final, Oklahoma looks to win its seventh national championship in 10 years, after finishing sixth and missing the final four in 2024 after a series of uncharacteristic vault misses.
The last two spots in Saturday’s final will be decided in the second session of Thursday’s semifinal, which begins at 9 p.m. ET.
(Photo of Helen Hu: Ali Gradischer/ Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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