15 Suspended After Women's College Basketball Game Becomes a Full-Court Fight

Just about every player from Texas Southern and Southern University got involved.

1.

Fights happen all the time in sports, and at every level. For every dugout-clearing incident in baseball, real punches get thrown between 8-year-olds at youth hockey games. Players have pent up aggression, and its release is usually good for the game—get it all out, don't hurt anyone for real, and get on with it. On Saturday night, in a women's basketball game between Texas Southern and Southern University, an altercation began, but this time, it didn't end. 

The scrum started with 12:37 to go in the second half in a tight 51-49 contest. A Southern player got called for a charge, and Texas Southern took exception to it. A shoving match ensued, and very quickly, the entire game was tossed aside in favor of a team-wide brawl. As you can see in the above video, coaches and referees struggled to gain any control over the situation as fighting spread throughout the gym. 

In all, 15 players were suspended, and the game ended in a double forfeit. Southern University guard Keonia Parrish​ was kicked off the team completely. Because of the team's eight suspensions, Texas Southern has had to withdraw from the upcoming SWAC tournament due to a lack of available, non-suspended players. They would've been the SWAC's first seed. 

"I've been involved with basketball for 30-plus years, and I've never seen anything like it. It's an embarrassment," said Southern coach Sandy Pugh to The Advocate. Frankly, we've never seen anything like it either: 15 suspensions, 1 player totally dismissed, and a double forfeiture. That's astonishingly bad fight management.

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[via Deadspin]

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