366 days ago, the No. 1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners faced heartbreak in Fort Worth, TX as their perfect season collapsed in the semifinals of the Championship, sending them home early without a shot at the title.
Audrey Davis, a senior then, had been the 2024 NCAA Bars National Champion. Now, one year later, the fifth-year gymnast stands in front of those bars, fifth in the rotation, for the last routine she’ll perform in her collegiate career. She returned for a final year at Oklahoma for a chance to be here today: a chance to win everything and take back the crown. A 9.9 or above from her would clinch the victory.
She took a deep breath, did what she does best, and landed for a score of 9.925.
This Saturday, No. 2 Oklahoma competed against No. 4 Utah, No. 5 UCLA, and No. 7 Missouri in the 2025 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics National Championship. This is the moment OU has been fighting for the whole year, and it achieved what it set out to prove. The Oklahoma Sooners are the 2025 Champions, securing their 7th school title with a final score of 198.0125.
“Last year was a tough loss, but you have to grow from it. We have learned so much this season. We have grown so much. We just have to take everything with a grain of salt and just move on. Put your best foot forwards… and that’s exactly what we did,” senior Jordan Bowers said on ABC.
Not only did Davis secure their victory, but she also started it all off. Beginning on beam, Davis led with a 9.9. Freshman Addison Fatta followed with a 9.9 of her own. Freshman Lily Pederson and Bowers both stuck the landing for 9.9375s, and junior Faith Torrez finished with the same score. Their dominant performance resulted in nothing lower than a 9.9 being counted in the first round— an incredible feat when being scored by a panel of six strict judges. At the end of the first, they were tied for the lead with UCLA at 49.6125.
“What we did on beam was mind blowing,” head coach K.J. Kindler said on ABC. “Starting off on balance beam… I put the score 49.6 at the top because I said ‘That’s what it’s going to take to win a national championship’ and we got a 49.61. Sometimes you can manifest things, and I think we really did that.”
Second rotation of floor is when Oklahoma took off and never looked back. Senior Danielle Sievers’ notched a 9.9125 in her final routine on floor. Freshman Elle Mueller earned a 9.90. Bowers claimed a 9.925, and Torrez concluded strong with a 9.9625. With an event score of 49.5875 and a total of 99.2000, OU passed UCLA.
9.9625 for Faith!! pic.twitter.com/aItXlNrMFm
— Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) April 19, 2025
On vault, Faith Torrez once again earned a 9.9375. Sophomore Kiera Wells went after her for a 9.9 and Fatta scored 9.925. Scoring a 49.4375 in the event, Oklahoma stayed firmly ahead of UCLA, beating its third rotation score and leading 148.6375-148.3000.
In the final rotation, both Oklahoma and UCLA were closing out on their best rotation: OU on bars, and UCLA on beam. While the Sooners had the lead, the meet was far from over. Dani Sievers led 9.875, finishing her collegiate career with a stick. Pederson scored a 9.8000, Fatta a 9.8375, and Torrez a 9.850.
While they had yet to earn a 9.9, Davis had a chance to clinch the meet in the fifth spot, as UCLA had made one too many mistakes to catch back up. The fifth-year senior scored her 9.925, and Bowers, already a champion, ended her own collegiate career anchoring the team for a 9.8875.
With that, the Oklahoma Sooners became champions, beating UCLA 198.0125-197.6125, .4000 points in first place.
“Just truly a fairy tale ending,” Bowers said on ABC about how it feels to take the title. Do not want to go out any other way. Everything we’ve carried from last year too… it just means so much more. I’m so freaking proud of this team. I’m so proud to be a Sooner.”
This story was edited by Hannah Bryant.
