UCLA Cheerleader Takes 2 Scary Falls During a Single Timeout

A UCLA cheerleader took two scary falls during a timeout in the middle of the Bruins' game against Oregon on Thursday night.

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UCLA knocked off Oregon 82-79 on Thursday night in a tightly-contested game between two teams that are expected to make some major noise in the NCAA Tournament next month. But the big story to come out of the game involved a cheerleader who took two scary falls during a single timeout and somehow managed to walk away from them unharmed.

UCLA cheerleader Sophie Lellis-Petrie was on top of a pyramid during the timeout when she fell backwards and crashed to the ground. She appeared to be shaken up by the fall and was quickly scooped up by a trainer and carried off the court. But as he was making his way back to the sideline, the trainer stepped on what appeared to be a warmup shirt on the ground, which caused him to fall to the ground with Lellis-Petrie in his arms. It was a much shorter fall this time around for the cheerleader, but the trainer landed on top of her as he fell forward.

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"Say a prayer," Bill Walton said while calling the game for ESPN. "Light a candle for that young angel of UCLA."

Amazingly, Lellis-Petrie didn’t sustain any major injuries in either of the falls. She was looked at by the medical staff inside of UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, but she didn’t require any extensive attention. And according to a tweet sent out by the UCLA Spirit Squad, she was able to return to the court for the end of the game.

If you weren't already convinced of this: Cheerleading is a sport, people.

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