Brawl at Sun Belt Basketball Tournament Leaves Referee Motionless, Eight Ejected
With about 5: 39 left in the second-round game at the Sun Belt basketball tournament, a confrontation between South Alabama and Coastal Carolina players escalated into a bench-clearing scrum that left a referee lying motionless on the court and led to eight ejections.
How the play sparked chaos
South Alabama's Cordasia Harris was battling Coastal Carolina's Tracey Hueston for position in the paint with the Lady Jags leading 64-55 when Hueston swung and missed Harris, instead connecting with referee Ryan Durham; fellow referee Marla Gearhart then went down amid the scramble, lying still on the hardwood, and requiring immediate attention.
Officials eject eight players at Pensacola Bay Center
Both Tracey Hueston and Cordasia Harris received technical fouls and were ejected, and six additional South Alabama players were also removed for leaving the bench during the incident: Amyah Sutton, Daniela Gonzalez, Terren Coffil, Saneea Bevley, Princess Okafor Nweze and Jeriyah Baines, bringing the total to eight ejections in the second-round contest at the Pensacola Bay Center.
Aftermath on the scoreboard and on suspensions
Despite playing shorthanded for the final 5: 39, South Alabama finished the game and won 80-70, advancing in the tournament; a conference statement later said three South Alabama players were suspended for a game, and Coastal Carolina's No. 13 was suspended for the remainder of the season.
South Alabama's coach Yolisha Jackson addressed the incident after the win, saying, "Well, first of all, our program, we never want to be put in that situation, and we never want to act out like that, so we don’t condone what happened today, " and adding that the team would use the episode as a teaching moment for the players at the hotel that night.
Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Pederson also commented, saying, "It’s unfortunate we had the incident with South (Alabama) today. I know Tracey Hueston regrets that. She’s an incredible model citizen off the floor, and she knows she can’t act that way. " The exchange occurred during a tightly contested Sun Belt matchup that had postseason implications for both teams.
What fans and officials saw
Witnesses at the Bay Center said the melee was unlike anything they had seen in the women's game; fans and staff rushed the court to separate players when the altercation began with roughly 5. 5 minutes remaining in the game, and medical attention was provided to the official who fell.
The ejections left South Alabama with a dramatically reduced rotation, but the Lady Jags managed to close out the game and secure the win that sends them deeper into the bracket.
South Alabama is scheduled to face Texas State at the Bay Center on Thursday at 11: 30 a. m.; tournament officials and the teams will move forward under the suspensions announced following the incident.
