PENSACOLA, Fla. — The Sun Belt Conference College Basketball tournaments kicked off this week at the Pensacola Bay Center, but the excitement turned to chaos during a second-round matchup on Wednesday morning. A brawl erupted between players in the women’s basketball game featuring Coastal Carolina and the University of South Alabama, an incident that shocked fans in attendance.
With roughly 5.5 minutes remaining in the contest, tensions flared when Coastal Carolina’s Tracey Hueston, wearing number 13, allegedly threw a punch at South Alabama’s Cordasia Harris. The altercation quickly escalated, leading to players and officials rushing the court in an attempt to separate the two. Eyewitnesses noted the unexpected nature of the incident, with many stating they had never seen anything like it in women’s sports.
University of South Alabama’s head coach, Yolisha Jackson, expressed her disappointment regarding the incident involving two talented teams. Unfortunately, amid the fracas, a referee fell and hit her head on the hardwood, requiring medical attention. “With young people, sometimes emotions run high, and as they go through their growth process and their maturity, sometimes things happen,” Jackson remarked.
In the aftermath, eight players were ejected from the game—one from Coastal Carolina and seven from South Alabama. Despite the turmoil and the loss of key players, South Alabama clinched the victory, defeating Coastal Carolina 80-70 and moving on in the tournament with a diminished roster.
Following the incident, the Sun Belt Conference announced suspensions for three South Alabama players for a subsequent game. “We always try to look at it as a lesson learned and make sure that the next time we are put in a similar situation, we respond a little differently,” Coach Jackson noted. Meanwhile, Hueston has been suspended for the remainder of the season, a decision echoed by Coastal Carolina’s head coach Kevin Pederson, who stated that Hueston is generally an exemplary individual off the court and regrets her actions during the game.
Looking ahead, the South Alabama women’s basketball team is scheduled to compete against Texas State at the Bay Center on Thursday at 11:30 a.m., aiming to put the recent incident behind them and focus on their tournament aspirations.