Memphis Women’s Basketball Player Punches Out Opponent During Handshake Line
For the second time this week, it was the postgame handshake and not the actual result of the game that made headlines after the conclusion of a women’s college basketball game.
Earlier this week, things got chippy between Louisville’s Hailey Van Lith and Texas’ Sonya Morris, overshadowing the Cardinals’ dominant performance against Texas in Austin.
Now, after the conclusion of the Memphis-Bowling Green game in the WNIT, things got chippy again, except this time it escalated to a physical altercation.
In the video below, you can see Memphis’ Jamirah Shutes punch Bowling Green’s Elissa Brett, causing her to fall to the floor after the Falcons’ 73-60 win over the Tigers.
Bowling Green released a statement on the altercation, saying that the incident will be handled by campus police.
“The incident that took place following tonight’s home WNIT game has been turned over to the BGSU Police Department,” the school said. “Bowling Green State University Athletics does not make comments about active police investigations. Our priority is with the health, safety, and support of our student-athletes.”
Memphis’ athletic department released a statement of its own on Friday, saying that the incident was “extremely unfortunate and certainly not consistent with, or representative of, our expectations for our programs and student-athletes.”
“Because the incident occurred after the game, jurisdiction falls in the hands of local authorities, and we are cooperating fully with their process,” the statement said. “To be respectful of that process, we will not comment further until it is complete.”
