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Before a person cries, their facial muscles may have quick movements, like the muscles are vibrating. How would you describe that? Here is what I would say:
"Her face twisted a second"
However, I don't think that represents what I am trying to say. Any suggestions to describe these facial movements?
Shiver - Tremor - quiver could express it I believe. However, if you intend to imply their shaking or quivering while crying, you could use sob since it suggests a more emotional form of crying.
quiver, tremble, twitch all apply: quiver is perhaps more commonly-used in reference to strong emotion, particularly crying.
I checked my standard reference for such things - the Oxford English Dictionary.
For further reproducability, I add links to a Google NGram run:
