MEET RESULTS

FAIRMONT, West Virginia -- A day after posting its best opening-half score all year, Azusa Pacific got an even better start Saturday in the semifinals of the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association National Championships, but undefeated No. 1-seed Baylor University turned in a season-best performance of its own to defeat the Cougars, 287.915-280.430, and advance to the Bears' first-ever NCATA national championship final.

The Cougars, who entered the national championships with four perfect-10 heat scores all season, matched that total with one in Friday's quarterfinals and three more Saturday against Baylor, which went on to dethrone four-time NCATA national champion Oregon later Saturday night.

After posting season-best scores in eight heats and two events Friday, Azusa Pacific tied or improved on eight more season-best heats. The Cougars' Acro (29.25) and Pyramid (29.85) scores were new season-bests in those events, leading to another improvement in first-half scoring with a score of 97.60 points at halftime, although Baylor was practically flawless in scoring 45-hundredths of a point better than the Cougars through the first three events.

The first perfect-10 came in the second heat of the meet (compulsory pyramid), with 15 athletes helping the team to season-best scores in each of the first three compulsory heats. Azusa Pacific registered two other perfect-10s in consecutive heats of the Pyramid event, as the twisting pyramid collected its fourth perfect score of the year before the release pyramid was also flawless to wrap up the first half. Triana Leal, Ashleigh Pitts, and Danielle Handy contributed on all three perfect pyramid heats.

Baylor built its lead to over a point by winning the Toss event after halftime, and the Bears executed all six heats of the Tumbling event with scores of 9.5 or better to open up a four-point overall lead heading into the Team event. Baylor scored a full three points better in the Team event, although Azusa Pacific's score of 99.13 was an improvement over the Cougars' Friday performance and ranked as the team's second-best Team event score all season.

While setting season-highs in two events (Acro, Pyramid), Azusa Pacific also posted its second-highest scoring of the year in three others (Compulsory, Toss, Team). The 55.30-point Tumbling effort was the third-best score of the season in that event.

With the defeat, Azusa Pacific finishes the season with a 3-5 overall record. The only defeats came against national finalists Baylor and Oregon, and the Cougars joined Oregon as the only two NCATA programs to make four consecutive appearances in the national semifinals.