Hometown girl Timmons good from 45 feet for ODU win at buzzer

She made her mother cry. And her sister. And her brother.

That’s what happens when the hometown girl comes home, jacks up a 45-footer just before the buzzer of a tie game, and bingo!

Old Dominion 61, Middle Tennessee 58.

“I realized I only had two seconds; I practice that shot in practice, so I thought, ‘Why not go for it?’ “ said Timmons, whose gamewinner came in front of roughly 30 folks from her home, Columbia, Tenn., a 45-minute drive from Murfreesboro. “When I shot it, I felt like it would go in, and when it went in, it was a really good moment for me.”

Even when the refs checked to ensure Timmons launched the shot in time, the point guard knew the game was in the bag.

“I was watching the clock the whole time,” said Timmons, who finished with 5 points.

With ODU up one and the clock at 6 seconds, Blue Raider Alex Johnson connected on her first free throw but missed her second. Keyana Brown collected the rebound, handed it off to Ashley Jackson who passed to Timmons. The freshman had the poise to take three dribbles before sending it flying in front of the Lady Monarchs bench.

Dagger. It was only Middle Tennessee's sixth conference loss at home in 11 years.

The moment turned surreal after that; Timmons doesn't even remember who lifted her to celebrate.

"Really proud parent moment," said Timmons, whose mom, Vivian, bleeds blue on Twitter and was all tears when she hugged her daughter.

It's only Timmons' eighth 3 of the season, but half-court shots are part of ODU regimen, and "yesterday in shoot-around, I hit the first one I shot," she said.

"Everybody was there. My immediate family, people from church . . . "

They got to see one of the biggest shots in the Karen Barefoot era (makes us harken back to the Virgin Islands for KB's first-ever ODU win behind Becca Allison's jumper from the left elbow at 1.2 seconds -- that was ODU 77, Alabama 76 . . . and don't forget Annika Hollopainen's contested 3 vs. Louisiana Tech last February, also at the buzzer for ODU 72, La Tech 71).

But sheer distance? Big moment? Mover over Trey Freeman!