UC’s women’s basketball team finished off its game against VCU last night (Dec. 5) in thrilling fashion, scoring four points — and notching a key steal — in the final 8 seconds to claim victory in Richmond, Virginia.
With just 14 seconds left, the Bearcats found themselves down 56-54. Freshman guard Chellia Watson hit a game-tying jumper with just 3 seconds left and it looked as if the game would be going into overtime.
But tight defense on the ensuing inbounds play changed all of that.
After it was jostled away from VCU, senior forward Angel Rizor grabbed the loose ball and nailed a buzzer-beater, giving UC the 58-56 win.
That exciting finale caught the attention on ESPN — albeit with a little heads-up from the @GoBearcatsWBB Twitter account, which tweeted at the ESPN assignment desk after the game, “This has gotta be #SCTop10 worthy, right!?”
Indeed it was. The final seconds of the game came in at number No. 6 on ESPN’s nightly Top 10 Plays rundown.
#Bearcats checking in at No. 6️⃣ on yesterday’s @SportsCenter Top 10 Plays. pic.twitter.com/G3KMXJJQqj
— Cincinnati W. Hoops (@GoBearcatsWBB) December 6, 2019
SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt also gave the buzzer-beating a shout-out. “That’s incredible,” Van Pelt said as the highlight ran as part of his “Best Thing I Saw Today” segment.
ICYMI | Last night’s finish was @notthefakeSVP’s Best Thing I Saw Today on @SportsCenter.#Bearcats pic.twitter.com/vLKp3chJjT
— Cincinnati W. Hoops (@GoBearcatsWBB) December 6, 2019
“Credit to my teammates, ’cause they got their hands on that ball and got it loose,” Rizor said after the game. “I just saw the ball was loose, I picked it up and saw we had 2 seconds left and I said, ‘Let me shoot it.’ I’m a senior. I hadn’t been making shots but I just knew I could shoot the ball… let it go and, by God’s grace, made it.”
The Bearcats play the Miami Redhawks at Fifth Third Arena this Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. Get tickets here.
This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 10, 2019.