Eight players ejected after South Alabama-Coastal Carolina women’s basketball brawl

One referee was punched and another was knocked to the hardwood during a brawl between the South Alabama and Coastal Carolina women’s basketball teams on Wednesday afternoon.

Eight players were ejected from South Alabama’s 80-70 win in the Sun Belt tournament game. 

The fight broke out with less than six minutes remaining after a battle in the paint between South Alabama’s Cordasia Harris and Coastal Carolina’s Tracey Hueston. 

The skirmish escalated when Harris appeared to bump Hueston slightly from behind. Hueston turned around and began pushing and swinging at Harris, who pushed back.

Two referees, multiple teammates and staff members quickly worked to separate the women and referee Marla Gearhar was knocked to the floor in the melee. Gearhar appeared to be hit in the head or neck area by Hueston as the referee was attempting to push her away from Harris.

Players then spilled onto the court. Coaches and referees needed several minutes to restore order. Multiple staff members and a medical professional ran onto the court to attend to Gearhar. A sheriff’s deputy also came onto the court after the fight ended.

Gearhar was evaluated by medical personnel at the arena and was released, the conference announced.

No serious injuries were immediately reported in the fight. 

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Hueston and Harris received technical fouls and were ejected. Six others who participated in the fight were also ejected.

South Alabama held onto its lead and will advance to the third round of the conference tournament. NCAA bylaws indicate that any player ejected for fighting can face an automatic one-game suspension. 

Hueston was suspended for the rest of the 2026 postseason. Harris, along with teammates Amyah Sutton and Daniela Gonzalez, were subsequently suspended for one game.

While South Alabama Athletics Director Joel Erdmann did not condone Jaguars players’ involvement in the altercation, he quibbled with aspects of officials’ rulings.

“The incident that took place in Wednesday’s game is extremely unfortunate and unacceptable,” Erdmann said. “However, after an extensive internal review, I do not believe the actions of all three of our student-athletes rose to the level of being classified as fighting as defined by the NCAA rule book.

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“This judgment has negatively impacted the tournament experience of our suspended student-athletes and stripped them of limited opportunities to compete in the postseason,” Erdmann added.

South Alabama is scheduled to play Texas State on Thursday. It will be the Jaguars’ third game in three days. 

This article is based in part on wire service reports.

• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.