The Dunn-Oliver Acadome was the site of a large fight between women's basketball players during a game between Texas Southern and Alabama State on Monday in Montgomery, Ala. Photo courtesy of Michael Barera/
Wikimedia Commons
Feb. 5 (UPI) -- The Southwestern Athletic Conference suspended 10 student-athletes and two managers Wednesday after a brawl broke out after a women's basketball game between Texas Southern University and Alabama State University.
The melee occurred at the end of Texas Southern's 81-54 win against Alabama State on Monday at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome in Montgomery, Ala. What sparked the altercation has not been disclosed. Videos of the brawl on social media have accumulated more than 2 million views.
The videos show the teams meeting at half court after the game ends. Players from both teams began to shout at each other and then exchanged shoves.
Police, coaches and teammates attempted to separate the players before they formed a large scrum and slammed into the scorer's table. Several players are seen throwing punches and pulling each other's hair in the social media footage.
The conference suspended Texas Southern's Ciani Cryor, Britnee Gabriel, Jekalen Jones, Niya Mitchell and Tamaria White, and Alabama State's Taylor Aikerson, Kaeani Berry, Zomoria Clark, Dereseia Randle, Aniyah Smith. Managers Logan Young and Jervon Mannery-Gaither also were suspended.
Cryor, Gabriel, Aikerson and Randle received one-game suspensions. Jones, Mitchell, White, Berry, Clark and Smith were suspended for two games. Young was suspended for one game, while Mannery-Gaither received an indefinite ban, pending further investigation.
The conference also fined each school $5,000.
"The conduct of a few of our women's basketball players at the end of the game was unacceptable," Alabama State athletic director Jennifer Lynne Williams said. "That type of behavior is not a true reflection of who we are at Alabama State University.
Texas Southern vice president for intercollegiate athletics Kevin Granger said the incident "overshadowed" the efforts of the team's success on the court.
The schools met at the conference office Tuesday in Birmingham to discuss the incident. Texas Southern and Alabama State are scheduled to play again March 2 at Health & Physical Education Arena in Houston.
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