No. 2 OU women’s gymnastics will open Southeastern Conference play in a matchup with No. 7 Missouri on Friday after facing the Tigers in the national championship last year.
OU defeated Missouri on five separate occasions last season, with four coming during the postseason. OU defeated Missouri 197.775-196.750 in a regular-season meet in 2025, and the Sooners won when the two teams met again in the championship, with the Tigers placing third.
The Sooners, as they face Missouri in 2026, are coming off a win over Louisiana State University, Utah and UCLA at the Sprouts Collegiate Quad in their first meet of the season. Head coach K.J. Kindler feels proud of her team’s consistency during the meet.
“We were the only team in that session to hit 24 routines, so that says a lot for the future,” Kindler said. “Consistency is one of our key things at Oklahoma.”
Several OU gymnasts will look to build on their big performances at the Sprouts Collegiate Quad, including junior Hannah Scheible. She played a big role in the victory with a score of 9.95 in her debut on beam.
“I have always dreamed of being in K.J. Kindler’s beam lineup since I was a little girl, and that moment was just so special for me,” Scheible said. “Beam is actually my favorite event also, so being able to be up there and be confident and just own my training was a really, really special moment for me.”
Freshman Mackenzie Estep won SEC freshman of the week honors for her performance at the Sprouts Collegiate Quad. Estep scored a 9.9 or higher on vault, bars and beam in her collegiate debut.
“As a freshman, it was just great getting out there and being with the team,” Estep said. “It felt so cool to be supported like that.”
However, after the win came in a tiebreaker, the Sooners will look to be more aggressive against Missouri.
“When we’re going into that last event and we have a little lead, we need to still be aggressive in those moments,” Kindler said.
OU will begin the meet against Missouri at 7:45 p.m. Friday in Columbia, Missouri, on SEC Network.
This story was edited by Joshua McDaniel.
