BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 1 Alabama gymnastics was unable to overcome a pair of falls on its first event, the uneven bars, Friday night and lost for the first time this season to No. 12 LSU, 196.475-196.050.

“I’ve said all along that the competition in the Southeastern Conference is such that you can’t afford to have a mistake and expect to win,” Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. “It was apparent from the moment we walked into the arena that LSU was on a mission, and the target was clearly on our back.”

After Morgan Dennis led off with a 9.9 on the uneven bars, freshman Ashley Sledge and junior Kayla Hoffman both had two breaks.

“I thought our ladies were prepared,” Patterson said.  “I am disappointed in the mental inconsistency of Ashley Sledge’s performance. She is hit or miss, while she could be one of the most outstanding bar workers and gymnasts on our team. I will address this personally in her individual workouts this week. She has the capability of being a difference maker on our team.”

“Kayla struggled as well and had a fall, but then had a grip failure as well, and that is something that should never happen,” Patterson said. “Again, we will use these things to make us all better.”

Alabama will face No. 3 Florida this Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Coleman Coliseum.