A women’s college basketball game in Mississippi erupted in a huge brawl that left players and fans both ejected from the arena on Thursday.
The fight between members of Southern Mississippi’s Lady Eagles and Arkansas State’s Red Wolves, being played at Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, occurred in the second quarter when Arkansas’s forward Emma Imevbore grabbed a rebound and got tangled up with Mississippi’s Domonique Davis. As they struggled, it appeared that Imevbore shoved her opponent, knocking her to the floor. But Imevbore also was seen throwing a few fists at Brikayla Gray.
Mississippi’s Asjha Leake then jumped in and, grabbed Imevbore and threw her to the floor by her neck, Fox News reported.
Referees also waded into the conflagration to pull the players apart.
At one point, even a few fans jumped in and got involved in the imbroglio.
Izzy Higginbottom & Wynter Rogers had 11 points each. But Arkansas State women's basketball fell at Southern Miss 57-48.
— Chris Hudgison (@ChrisHudgison) February 16, 2024
2nd quarter fight resulted in multiple ejections.
Video: ESPN+
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The game unsurprisingly came to a screeching halt as officials spent 23 minutes deciding what to do after the mess was quelled.
Ultimately, five players and even three fans were ejected from the arena.
Southern Mississippi’s Asjha Leake, Lani Cornfield, Domonique Davis, and Brikayla Gray were ejected from the game. Arkansas’ Imevbore was also tossed.
After the game, Southern Miss head coach Joye Lee-McNelis said, “I can’t really comment because I have to follow conference guidelines. I just think it’s very, very, very unfortunate. And I believe that in every incident you have in life, you learn. You may not like the consequences, but you’re going to learn from them.”
“And I think that – which we do not believe we should have done – it won’t happen again. It will not happen again. We’ve got to understand that every decision we make, wherever we are in life, will determine our future – whether it’s tomorrow, the next day, whenever,” Lee-McNelis added.
Despite losing so many players, Southern Miss ended up being victorious and beat Arkansas State 57-48.
There is no word if the universities will take further action against any of the players.
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