A referee was knocked to the floor by a punch while trying to separate two players fighting as a brawl broke out during Wednesday's Sun Belt Conference second round women's basketball tournament game between the South Alabama Jaguars and Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in Pensacola, Florida.
It happened with 5:39 remaining in the fourth quarter with South Alabama leading 64-55. It started with South Alabama on offense as forward Cordasia Harris bumped Chanticleers forward Tracey Hueston from behind. Hueston turned around and started swinging as two officials ran in and attempted to separate them. One official held back Harris while the other, Marla Gearhart, held back Hueston. In the meantime, players from both teams left the benches to join the fray, with bodies flying everywhere.
In the midst of it, despite being separated from Harris, Hueston kept on swinging, with one of her stray punches apparently hit Gearhart in the head or neck area, knocking her to the floor. Gearhart was down for several minutes receiving medical attention. After further evaluation by medical personnel at the arena, she was released.
Coastal Carolina and South Alabama just got into it in the Sun Belt women's tournament and knocked the referee out cold 😳pic.twitter.com/HM1VDFrORD
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 4, 2026
After footage of the brawl was reviewed by the officials, a total of eight players were ejected from the game. Harris and Hueston were ejected for fighting, while six additional South Alabama players were ejected for leaving the bench area, including Amyah Sutton and Daniela Gonzalez, who along with Harris make up the top three scorers for the Jaguars. It was later announced by the Sun Belt Conference that Hueston would be suspended for the rest of the season.
South Alabama managed to hold on for the 80-70 victory despite being shorthanded for the final minutes of the game. However, they will likely now face an uphill battle in tomorrow's conference quarterfinal against Texas State with their top three scorers - Harris, Sutton and Gonzales - serving suspensions after being deemed involved in the fight.
You hate to see brawls in sports, and things get really ugly when officials get caught in the middle and get hurt. In this case, it seems the players involved got the penalties they deserved.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports).
