#womanBasketballbrawl
Ten players and two managers have been suspended after a vicious brawl broke out on Monday during the women’s college basketball game between Alabama State University and Texas Southern University in Montgomery, Alabama.
The melee took place after the final horn sounded signaling the end of the game, which TSU won handily by a score of 81-54.
Video uploaded to social media by fans who filmed the brawl from the stands shows players on both teams swinging punches while pushing and shoving each other as other players and coaches try to separate them.
Initially, the fight started on the basketball court, but it then carried over into press row.
The combatants knocked over the table where basketball officials and reporters sit to cover the game.
The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced on Thursday that five players from each team and two managers from Alabama State would be suspended.
TSU student-athletes Ciani Cryor, Britnee Gabriel, Jekalen Jones, Niya Mitchell, and Tamaria White were punished for their roles in the fight.
Cryor and Gabriel will be banned for one game while Jones, Mitchell, and White will sit for two games each.
For ASU, Taylor Aikerson, Kaeani Berry, Zomoria Clark, Dereseia Randle and Aniyah Smith, along with managers Logan Young and Jervon Mannery-Gaither, were suspended.
Aikerson and Randle will sit for one game while Berry, Clark, and Smith will be banned for two games.
Young, the manager, was suspended for two games. Mannery-Gaither has been suspended indefinitely pending further investigation.
In addition to the suspensions, the SWAC also announced that each team will be fined $5,000.
It is unclear what precipitated the brawl.
DailyMail.com has reached out to several players on both teams seeking comment.
Kevin Granger, the vice president for intercollegiate athletics at TSU, said: ‘We are deeply disappointed by the events which took place at the conclusion of Monday night’s game.
The incident has overshadowed the efforts of our team’s success on the court as this directly counters the expectations of sportsmanship which has been placed upon our student-athletes by Texas Southern and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
‘The SWAC and both universities are actively reviewing the events which took place last night in order to bring closure to this unfortunate incident.’
Granger continued: ‘The Texas Southern University Department of Athletics respects the decision by the Southwestern Athletic Conference regarding Monday’s unfortunate incident.
‘In addition to the SWAC’s policies, what took place on Monday is a direct violation of our department’s policies in regards to sportsmanship and ethical behavior that we expect our student-athletes to adhere to at all times.