A referee was injured and eight players were ejected Wednesday after a fight broke out late in a Sun Belt Conference women’s tournament game between South Alabama and Coastal Carolina at the Pensacola Bay Center.
The Sun Belt said official Marla Gearhart left the game after being struck during the melee and was later evaluated by medical personnel at the arena and released. The conference then issued suspensions under NCAA fighting rules and added a season-long penalty for Coastal Carolina’s Tracey Hueston after a video review. South Alabama still won 80-70, but the discipline meant the Jaguars would advance to their next game without key players. Sun Belt officials said the penalties were final as the tournament continued.
With 5:38 left in the fourth quarter and South Alabama holding a nine-point lead, players gathered under the basket after a jostle for position, officials and video showed. South Alabama forward Cordasia Harris appeared to bump Hueston from behind as they battled for space. Hueston turned and began shoving and swinging, and Harris pushed back as the confrontation widened quickly. Teammates, coaches and two referees rushed in to separate them, but the scrum spilled across the lane as more players stepped in. Gearhart was knocked to the court and lay on her back for several moments while play stopped. Medical staff and team personnel came onto the floor to check on her, and a sheriff’s deputy also walked onto the court as order was restored. Gearhart was helped off as officials assessed double technical fouls, and play resumed after the delay. South Alabama held on for the win that sent the Jaguars into the third round.
Suspensions and ejections followed quickly as the conference reviewed what happened. The Sun Belt said Hueston received a one-game NCAA fighting suspension and, after a review of available video, was suspended by the league for the remainder of the 2025-26 season, including any potential postseason. South Alabama’s Amyah Sutton, Daniela Gonzalez and Harris also received one-game NCAA suspensions because they were deemed to have engaged in a fight. Eight players were ejected during the stoppage: Hueston for Coastal Carolina, and Harris, Gonzalez, Terren Coffil, Saneea Bevley, Princess Okafor Nweze, Jeriyah Baines and Sutton for South Alabama. The Sun Belt’s statement did not announce additional penalties for the other ejected players, and it said the conference considers the matter closed and would have no further comment. In a statement, Coastal Carolina athletics leader Chance Miller apologized to the officials, South Alabama and the league and said the behavior “does not represent the standards or expectations” of the university’s athletics department.
The incident came in the second round of the Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Air Force Reserve, an event that brings teams across the league to the Gulf Coast each March. Coastal Carolina entered as the No. 9 seed and had a first-round bye, and South Alabama was the No. 12 seed. Before the fight, the Jaguars led 57-51 entering the final quarter and pushed the margin to nine with just under six minutes to play. Players had been physical in the paint before it escalated. After the stoppage, Coastal Carolina went to the line for four free throws, cutting into the deficit, but South Alabama steadied itself and kept control of the game. Guard Chrysta Narcisse led all scorers with 24 points, and Diawna Carter-Hartley added 18. Sutton scored 16 before she was ejected. Coastal Carolina senior Kristin Williams scored 16, and freshman Kinsea Grimes, the conference’s freshman of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds. The win moved South Alabama forward in the bracket, but it also came with an immediate roster cost.
Coaches from both teams said the altercation was not what they wanted to show in a postseason setting, especially during a week when conference tournaments put programs in a national spotlight. Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Pederson said the program regretted what happened and would address it internally. “We regret the actions that took place,” Pederson said in a statement, adding that the incident did not reflect the team’s day-to-day standards and that the staff holds players to high expectations on and off the court. Pederson said the staff will act quickly. South Alabama coach Yolisha Jackson said her program does not condone fighting and called the scene an unfortunate moment for two teams competing in the same tournament week. Jackson said the priority became restoring order and checking on the injured official. League officials later confirmed Gearhart was released after evaluation, but they did not provide further medical details or say whether she would work later games.
South Alabama athletic director Dr. Joel Erdmann said the school would accept the league’s decision but disputed part of the ruling that led to one-game suspensions for three Jaguars. Erdmann said the incident was “extremely unfortunate and unacceptable,” yet he said an internal review led him to believe the actions of Harris, Sutton and Gonzalez did not rise to the NCAA definition of fighting. He said the suspensions stripped the players of limited postseason opportunities and changed South Alabama’s rotation after it had just pulled off an upset as a No. 12 seed. Erdmann also noted that the ruling affected the tournament experience of the suspended players, who would miss the next game even though the team advanced. Coastal Carolina’s loss ended the Chanticleers’ season at 14-18 overall and 7-11 in league play, according to local reports, and the conference suspension means Hueston would be barred from any postseason appearance if the team receives an invitation to another event. That additional penalty goes beyond the automatic one-game NCAA suspension tied to fighting, the league said.
South Alabama was scheduled to play No. 8 Texas State on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Central time at the Pensacola Bay Center, with Harris, Sutton and Gonzalez ineligible under the one-game penalties. The Sun Belt’s recap of the game said the fight broke out with the Jaguars leading by nine and that the resulting ejections sent Coastal Carolina to the line for four free throws, a sequence that kept the outcome in doubt late. Tournament officials did not immediately detail whether security or bench-management procedures would be adjusted for remaining games, but the scene underscored how quickly a confrontation in the lane can escalate and how officials can be caught in the middle while trying to separate players. With Coastal Carolina eliminated, Hueston’s one-game NCAA suspension would apply only if the Chanticleers play in another postseason tournament, while the league’s season-long suspension would keep her out of any such games.
As of Thursday, March 5, the tournament continued in Pensacola with South Alabama set to play without three suspended players and Coastal Carolina headed home after its season-ending loss. The Sun Belt said Gearhart was released after evaluation and indicated no further review or comment was planned as teams prepared for the next round.
Author note: Last updated March 5, 2026.