Oklahoma women's gymnastics star Audrey Davis savoring final postseason run with Sooners

NORMAN — Consistency has defined OU women’s gymnastics in recent years.

No Sooners gymnast has shown more consistency over the last few years than Audrey Davis.

She’s hit 185 consecutive routines and 196 of 197 during her career.

The senior from Oakland, Florida, has 46 career uneven bars scores of 9.9 or better. Twelve times, she’s earned a 9.975, barely missing out on perfection. On March 3 at Texas Woman’s, Davis finally broke through and got her first career perfect 10.

Davis and the top-ranked Sooners are the clear favorites in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at Lloyd Noble Center and will be televised on ESPNU.

“It’s gone by so fast,” Davis said of the season. “It is insane. It feels like we just started yesterday.”

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OU women's gymnastics eyes another Big 12 title

In their final season in the Big 12, OU (25-0) is looking for its third consecutive Big 12 title and 14th overall.

It would be a surprise if they didn’t.

“Our team chemistry is so amazing and we each trust each other so much and their gymnastics and what they’re doing,” Davis said. “Something I’ve been telling myself a lot this year is, ‘It’s just gymnastics.’ I’ve been doing it for almost 20 years, so why worry so much about what I’m doing when I could do these things with my eyes closed, if that makes sense? I feel like everybody on the team has been taking that approach, too.”

Davis had been so close to perfection so many times that she’d let go of any worry about whether or not a 10 would finally happen for her.

But still, reaching the milestone was an emotional one.

Davis was prepping for her balance beam routine when her 10 posted.

“Everybody was yelling because the score changed,” Davis said. “I was like, ‘Oh wow, I don’t know what’s going on.”

But when she found out what the yelling was for following her routine, it hit her.

“I cried,” Davis said. “I had a little tear come down from my eyes. It’s a really cool feeling but I don’t base my gymnastics off of the score. I kind of just tell myself, ‘Well, that was my best routine. That’s all I can give. If it comes it comes, if not, what can I do?’”

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Audrey Davis' journey to OU stardom

When she arrived at OU, consistency wasn’t exactly Davis’ hallmark.

“In club, when I was doing elite, I would always go up and never know if I was actually going to hit my beam routine or hit my bar routine or whatever I was doing because there were so many skills in the routine,” Davis said. “Now that I’m in college, I’m doing similar routines every single year and similar skills every year and they’re skills that I’ve done since I was probably 10 years old, 9 years old.

“I used to worry a lot if I was going to make it.”

That hasn’t been the case in recent years.

Only once this season has she scored below a 9.9 on the uneven bars — where she’s ranked No. 1 nationally. Only twice has she scored below a 9.9 on the balance beam. Only three times has she scored a sub-9.9 in the floor exercise.

“I just go and do my gymnastics and try to have fun with it, because whenever you’re having fun, it’s a lot easier,” Davis said. “This year, one of my goals has been making gymnastics super fun. It’s been fun the last three years, it’s been amazing, it’s been a great experience, but this year I’m really trying to make it the best, happiest, most positive, most amazing year that I could possibly have.”

The Sooners are no strangers to entering the postseason No. 1, but this season has been unique even by OU’s lofty standards.

OU’s national qualifying score is 0.295 better than any other team, its average is 0.417 better than anyone else and its high score is 0.225 better.

In their last three home meets, the Sooners have posted their top-three overall scores in program history.

“It definitely feels a lot different just because we’re really going out there and doing what we know how to do,” Davis said. “We’re not taking it too seriously. We’re just relaxing and doing what we do in practice. I think it’s a lot different this year than any other year.”

Davis has been at the center of setting that tone.

“She believes and upholds the standards and values of our program while being genuinely and authentically herself in all situations and scenarios,” Sooners coach K.J. Kindler said in a statement recently when Davis was named a finalist for the AAI Award for the top senior female gymnast in the country. “She has taught us all the meaning of gratitude and has been a joy to coach.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU women's gymnastics: Audrey Davis ready for final postseason run