A women’s basketball game in Florida was marred by a massive brawl Wednesday that led to ejections, suspensions, and a referee being flattened in the process.
The incident took place during the Sun Belt Tournament in Pensacola, Florida, where South Alabama was playing Coastal Carolina, according to ESPN.
The game had six minutes to go when Cordasia Harris of South Alabama and Tracey Hueston from Coastal Carolina moved quickly from Harris bumping her opponent to Hueston pushing her back.
I’m in the thick of it here at the Big 12 Tournament, but was just sent this video of a fight erupting at South Alabama/Coastal Carolina.
Was told there were more than a handful of ejections after this. pic.twitter.com/mKyGaM0O0I
— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) March 4, 2026
Both benches cleared as officials tried to separate the players. Hueston appeared to have hit a referee in the head or neck while the ref was trying to push Hueston away from the fight.
Hueston and Harris were ejected after being slapped with technical fouls. Six other players were also ejected.
South Alabama ultimately won 80-70.
Referee Marla Gearhar lay motionless on the floor as the fighting ebbed until she was attended to by a medical professional and other staff, according to CBS News.
Gearhar was evaluated by medical staff at the venue and released, the Sun Belt conference said.
The Sun Belt later announced that Harris and two other South Alabama players would be suspended one game for having been “deemed to have engaged in a fight, by NCAA rule,” according to The New York Times.
Hueston of Coastal Carolina was suspended for the balance of the season, a sanction that includes postseason games.
After the game, South Alabama coach Yolisha Jackson commented, “With young people, sometimes emotions run high and as they go through their growth process and their maturity, sometimes things happen.”
Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Pederson said Hueston is “an incredible model citizen off the floor and she knows she can’t act that way.”
South Alabama Athletics Director Joel Erdmann said he did not think his players deserved the punishment they received, according to AL.com.
“The University of South Alabama does not condone fighting under any circumstance. The incident that took place during Wednesday’s game is extremely unfortunate and unacceptable. We will use this as an opportunity to learn and grow in our efforts to become better in the future,” he said in a statement.
“That being said, I am the first to acknowledge that college basketball officials have an extremely challenging and thankless job. We are greatly concerned about the official that was injured during the game,” he added.
“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. This judgment has negatively impacted the tournament experience of our suspended student-athletes and stripped them of limited opportunities to compete in the postseason.”
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