Fight at Coastal Carolina, South Alabama women's game injures ref, forces 8 ejections

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A brawl between South Alabama and Coastal Carolina in the women's Sun Belt Tournament on Wednesday left eight players ejected and knocked a referee to the floor where she required medical attention.

One player, Coastal Carolina's Tracey Hueston, was suspended for the rest of the 2026 postseason.

There were less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter when South Alabama's Cordasia Harris and Hueston began fighting under the basket. Harris appeared to bump Hueston slightly from behind before 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.

Gearhar remained on the floor on her back while order was restored and multiple staff members and a medical professional ran onto the court to attend to her. 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.

Hueston and Harris were both given technical fouls and ejected, along with six other players who participated in the fight.

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.

"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 won the game 80-70 and is slated to play Texas State on Thursday.