Courtney McCool could hardly contain her excitement.

Less than 30 minutes after the Gym Dogs’ 197.20-195.55 romp over an overwhelmed Kentucky squad in Stegeman Coliseum Friday night,

McCool was in the media room exalting her team’s best meet of the season.

Senior Courtney McCool posted 9.8 on the balance beam and followed up with a 9.95 on the floor exercise, helping the Gym Dogs post a season-high score of 197.20 against Kentucky Friday. Photo by WES BLANKENSHIP

“Oh God, we just killed it,” the senior said. “We blew it up and it felt so good. So good. Mmm, mmm good.”

She then ran to freshman teammate Shayla Worley — who was in the middle of an on-camera interview — hugged her and shouted, “I love

Shayla Worley,” into the camera and then ran out of the room, undoubtedly to find more people to hug.

It had been a grueling three-week road trip for the Gym Dogs (2-3, 1-2), who had not competed before their own fans since Jan. 9, and they wanted nothing more than to put on a good show.

Mission accomplished.

Georgia scored 49.4 or higher on three different events, had eight individual scores of 9.9 or higher and snapped its three meet losing streak — its longest since 2005.

But above all, the Gym Dogs were just happy to be home.

Freshman Shayla Worley earned a 9.95 on the floor exercise. Photo by ASHLEY STRICKLAND

“I didn’t really realize the value and importance of being at home and the energy that it can create until I was away for three weeks,” Worley said. “And it really makes me appreciate the home crowd. We have the best fans in the world.”

After opening the meet on vault with a 48.95, Georgia moved to the uneven bars and had its best rotation of the year, scoring a 49.45.

Highlighted by sophomore Kat Ding’s near-perfect 9.975, McCool and sophomore Gina Nuccio each earned 9.9 as the Gym Dogs held a sizable lead after two rotations.

No. 9 Georgia then moved to the balance beam — statistically its strongest event this season — and continued to dominate. Three more gymnasts, Hilary Mauro, Grace Taylor and Worley, topped 9.9 as the Gym Dogs continued to feed off of the home crowd.

“It makes me almost want to cry because I missed it so much,” Taylor said. “This is just a completely different experience because people like us. The past three weeks we have crowds this big or bigger cheering against us so it was incredible.”

Then came the floor exercise, the rotation Georgia head coach Jay Clark called “our nemesis.” The Gym Dogs entered the meet ranked No. 21 nationally on the floor having had at least one fall in each of the previous four meets.

Not on this night.

“We’ve had great days during the week then in the meets it became the hardest thing to show up on,” McCool said. “They really showed tonight and everybody came into their own.”

With each subsequent Gym Dog to compete on the floor, the roar of the crowd got louder, until Worley nearly brought the house down.

She earned a perfect 10 from one judge and an overall score of 9.95, the highest score on any event in her young career as she easily won the all-around competition over teammate Cassidy McComb and Kentucky’s Andrea Mitchell.

“You’re starting to see the kid we knew we were getting when we recruited her,” Clark said. “When she’s healthy, she can be a huge asset for us. … People have been saying all along that Georgia doesn’t have that big star, but maybe you’re seeing the beginning of a star being born.”

McCool finished the meet off with a 9.95, bring a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd.

“This is who we are,” she said. “Talking doesn’t matter, everybody remembers the action, everybody remembers what you did. Every week we can make history and we have control of that. This is the type of history we want to make and we want everybody to remember this.”