This week’s game against in-state rival Arizona State University didn’t go well for the Arizona Wildcats. The Sun Devil women’s basketball team defeated UA for the third time this week. The Wildcats’ beach volleyball team then lost 3-2 to Arizona State early Friday afternoon. But the week isn’t over yet.
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The GymCats have a chance to take back some glory for their school Friday night. They won 196.400 to 196.000 at the McKale Center.
“I’m very happy with the end result,” Arizona head coach said John Court. “Of course, it’s important to get the territory cutoff point. I told [the gymnasts]… The season didn’t go the way I wanted it to. I say, I’m not going to be shy about it, but I say everybody in this zip code understands one thing. They know when Arizona beats Arizona State. This is something everyone understands. “
This is the only thing about sophomore year Aubrey Crohnfield We’ve known since the GymCats were at the top the past two years, but the junior division Sophie Dell and Abigail Martin Know what that feels like. They lost to Arizona State in Tempe as a freshman.
“This is the worst feeling ever,” Martin said.
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“I don’t want to feel this way,” Cronfield added.
“Aubrey, you don’t want to,” Martin assured her. “us accustomed to“.
At least they didn’t this year, anyway. The GymCats were solid all night, scoring 49 points or more on every rotation. They only missed one routine, but they were able to drop it.
That turnover occurred on the final rotation when Del completed a tumbling pass on the floor exercise. This can be devastating. Highly entertaining routines can achieve great results. Derr usually sells it for a very good price and is very fun to watch.
It was the second time this season she scored below 9.800. The other time it fell below 9.8 was 9.775 on January 23, 2026. This time it was 9.150.
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Arizona struggled on the floor last week when Martin and Riley Kaman He fell down during the incident. Both men helped lift Del this week. Kaman scored a 9.800 earlier in the rotation. Martin was right behind Del with a score of 9.825.
When Martin’s routine ended, her teammates started cheering. She joined them. This was a relief for a number of reasons.
“I think last week’s fall was really disappointing for me, especially after Riley’s fall,” Martin said. “It really is the worst feeling in the world when you don’t have their support. So I’m more motivated than ever to walk into the gym and I’m really excited to show tonight that I can have Sophie’s support. I know that at the end of this routine, no matter what How I felt in that moment, just kind of put it all out of sight, out of mind, just focused on the task at hand. So maybe not the best routine I’ve ever done, but I honestly think it’s one of the ones I’m most proud of at this point in the season.”
After Martin’s routine, ASU completed its balance beam performance. The Sun Devils finished with a score of 196.000. The Gymnastics Cats still have another floor of routine training to go. It turned out to be Emma Strom. She needs a score of 9.550 to tie with Arizona State.
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Strome has taken nine floor snaps this season. She scored below 9.900 only twice. Her lowest score of the season was a 9.725 in Arizona State’s second meet of the season.
The senior is here again. She tied her career high for the second time this season with a score of 9.950.
“I just really want this team to be able to do this, and when I look back at Abby and Emma, I have 100 percent confidence that they’re going to have my back and do what needs to be done for the team,” Derr said.
It was a close game, but it also felt like it was comfortably in Arizona’s hands the entire night. This was most likely because of how they came away with the win from their first vault of the night.
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ASU performed three vaults with a starting value of 10.0. Arizona doesn’t do anything with the highest starting value. Therefore, if both teams performed perfect vaults, the GymCats’ highest possible score would be 49.750, while the Sun Devils’ possible score would be 49.900.
Arizona wasn’t perfect, but they scored more than 49 points on vault for just the fourth time this season. Liz LaRusso Starting with a lovely vault, there is a stuck landing. The score is 9.825. Del’s vault was also strong, but got stuck on the landing, resulting in a score of 9.850. Strome followed with a difficult landing, scoring 9.825.
“The first three vaults were incredible,” Court said. “The next three were not bad, but the first three really made a difference.”
Court has been particularly impressed with Del, who has begun to show his versatility for the team. The junior joined the program as a bar specialist, but now she and Martin contribute eight of the team’s 24 routines in each meet.
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Arizona’s lead grew in each of the first three rounds. After one goal, the lead was 0.025.
Next up was bars, where Krohnfeldt took over and tied her career high with a 9.900. Arizona’s team score was 49.150.
At the halfway point of the competition, the GymCats had a total score of 98.175. Their opponents scored 98.000. The score was close, but Arizona was growing its lead with every rotation.
ASU did the floor exercise, while Arizona began the second half on the balance beam. No GymCats had a balance beam score lower than 9.800. Their score is 9.750.
On the floor exercise, ASU’s performance was less consistent. They had two scores that stayed within the 9.700 range. Devils need to perform well on balance beam, especially anchors Kimberly Smith.
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“I said this meeting was going to be between Kim Smith and Emma Strome,” Court said. “Emma will be anchoring on the floor and Kim will be anchoring on the beam. I said, that’s what this meet is ultimately about, and that’s what it ended up being.”
The two teams will likely meet again in the playoffs. Arizona State University is hosting a regional tournament. Since Arizona is less than 400 miles from Tempe, the NCAA will send the GymCats to I-10 if they qualify for the playoffs.
