Fans of the Utah State Aggies were crushed to see their team defeated by the Missouri Tigers in their final game of the season on Thursday.
But perhaps no one was more devastated by the loss than team cheerleader Ashlyn Whimpey, 20, whose heartbroken reaction to the final score has now turned her into a viral star.
The cheerleader – who is the girlfriend of Utah State basketball star Sean Bairstow – let her emotions get the better of her as the game came down to the final few minutes, with tears welling up in her eyes and her lip quivering as she watched her team try to battle back from 12 points behind their opposition with less than two minutes to go in the second half.
The blonde’s teary moment during the March Madness game against Missouri was caught on camera by TNT, with the clip of her swiftly doing the rounds on social media.
Utah State cheerleader Ashlyn Whimpey let her emotions get the better of her on Thursday when her team were defeated in the championships – leaving the 20-year-old in tears
The blonde’s teary moment was caught on camera by TNT and it went viral
One clip uploaded to Twitter has been viewed more than eight million times, with many commenters leaving tongue in cheek comments
One clip uploaded to Twitter has been viewed more than eight million times, with many commenters leaving tongue in cheek comments.
One viewer tweeted: ‘She finally got out of Utah, and now she has to go back.’
While another commenter came up with a similar conclusion writing: ‘That’s the look of someone realizing they have to go back to Utah. She wanted a few more days in Cali.’
After the clip of her swept the internet, Ashlyn took to TikTok to defend her ‘March sadness’ meme.
She wrote in an overlaid caption: ‘That one time I was sad to cheer at my last game.’
The TikTok then goes on to show a montage of her face in various online articles.
She captioned the clip ‘and now I’m a meme’ and put it to the soundtrack the World’s Smallest Violin by AJR.
However, while Ashlyn faced mockery from some, other viewers offered words of support to the cheerleader.
One TikToker said: ‘Literally the prettiest crier I’ve ever seen.’
Overall, Utah State were defeated by Missouri with the final score being 76-65
It was later revealed that Ashlyn is the girlfriend of Utah State basketball player Sean Bairstow
The sportswoman, pictured with her fellow cheerleaders, is currently studying marketing at Utah State University and is set to graduate next year
While another wrote: ‘Some people don’t understand the real feeling of that last game. You’ll always remember it.’
And a fellow sports fan commented: ‘My last High School football game I played the whole 4th quarter in tears knowing I’d never step on that field again.’
Some targeted their anger at broadcaster TNT, questioning why the network had chosen to show so many clips of Ashlyn’s emotional reaction.
‘Bruh why does TNT keep showing the crying Utah State cheerleader?? Chill,’ one person wrote.
Another quipped: ‘Seriously, TNT? Highlighting a crying cheerleader?’
And one commenter slammed the network for cutting back to her after they had initially caught her on camera crying.
‘Let the girl be sad,’ they said.
Ashlyn’s fans also highlighted how stressful career make or break games can be.
Ashlyn’s fans also highlighted how stressful career make or break games can be
One Twitter user wrote: ‘If you ever played sports, you see this all the time. So much time and energy is put into the game and bonding with your team. Losing sucks, especially when you see the end of the line when you lose.
‘If you know that this is the last time with what you consider a “second family” of sorts then you are going to be emotional. To mock or make fun of that is pretty bush league.’
Ashlyn’s other TikToks show her in brighter spirits, with her most-watched clip showing her performing a dance routine on Christmas Eve with her sister.
The sportswoman is currently studying marketing at Utah State University and is set to graduate next year.
Overall, Utah State were defeated by Missouri with the final score being 76-65.
Kobe Brown hit three 3-pointers in a span of just over three minutes to fuel a 13-2 run that turned a two-point deficit into a 62-53 lead.
‘He’s our MVP. I can tell you that,’ coach Dennis Gates said following Missouri’s win.
‘Ultimately when he started making some shots in that second half, he immediately made eye contact. He said he’s here. I said, ”Yes, you are. We can see.”
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