The No. 24 North Carolina gymnastics team was in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon, where they defeated the Temple Owls by a score of 195.250-195.100. Temple’s score was the highest by an opponent in a UNC victory this season, prompting this to be the Tar Heels' most narrow margin of victory thus far.
What happened?
North Carolina began the afternoon on the uneven bars, where the Tar Heels earned a collective score of 48.600. First-year Kate Greene earned the Tar Heels' highest score of the event with a 9.850. After the first rotation, UNC trailed Temple 48.950-48.600 as the Owls outscored North Carolina’s score by 0.350 with their score on the vault.
In the second rotation, North Carolina looked to chip away at Temple’s lead as they switched events. The Tar Heels did just that and then some, earning a 48.800 as a team on the vault compared to the Owls' 48.100 on the uneven bars. Junior Drew Aldridge was the Tar Heels' highest scorer with a 9.875. At the halfway point, North Carolina led Temple 97.400-97.050.
Despite a substantial lead, North Carolina had to maintain its high level of play to close out the match against the Owls.
In the third rotation, the Tar Heels received a cumulative 48.700 for their floor routines, meanwhile Temple earned a 48.750 on the balance beam. This tightened UNC’s lead to 146.100-145.800. Sophomores Hannah Nam and Brianna Greenlow tied for North Carolina’s highest score in the penultimate rotation, each scoring a 9.775.
Each team saved its best for last, as both North Carolina and Temple earned the highest scores in their final events, but for Temple, its efforts proved to be too little too late.
The Tar Heels scored a 49.150 on the balance beam, while the Owls earned a 49.300 for their floor routines — the latter being the highest single event score for either team during the match. It was during this final rotation that sophomore Elizabeth Culton earned the highest individual score of the match with a 9.950.
