On Saturday, senior gymnast Nia Dennis helped bring UCLA to their win of 196.15 to 195.95 against the Arizona State Sun Devils, according to Mashable.
Dennis is receiving wide acclaim for her incredible floor routine, on which she earned the highest score awarded by judges that day at 9.95.
https://twitter.com/uclagymnastics/status/1353398409038680065
Also capturing attention was her music mix, which included clips from Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Missy Elliott, 2Pac, Megan Thee Stallion, and Soulja Boy.
It got so big that even Missy Elliot noticed it:
Snappin🔥
— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) January 24, 2021
This interaction ❤️
— Dara Doctor of the Law Does Deep State (@daralynn13) January 25, 2021
She got a shoutout from Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, who tweeted about how much fun it was to watch Dennis do her thing out on the floor:
okay @DennisNia do the damn thing girl 🔥 this was so fun to watch! keep killing it! https://t.co/eDntwMpC4R
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) January 24, 2021
Dennis told the Los Angeles Daily News that she wanted the routine to feel fun and personal.
“This routine definitely reflects everything that I am today as a woman,” she said. “And of course I had to incorporate a lot of parts of my culture. I wanted to have a dance party because that’s my personality and of course I had to shout out LA because we out here, UCLA.”
Other UCLA Gymnasts including Katelyn Ohashi recognized how amazing the results were on Twitter as well:
okay game over. @DennisNia 🔥
— Katelyn Ohashi (@katelyn_ohashi) January 23, 2021