South Alabama and Coastal Carolina Turns Ugly

While the tournament may be over a week away, March Madness arrived a little early in Pensacola, Florida, on Wednesday, just not in the way that one might think. 

The South Alabama Jaguars women's basketball team was taking care of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the second round of the Sun Belt Tournament, up 64-55, with just under six minutes left in the fourth quarter. With the game almost in the bag, chaos erupted. 

What started as a seemingly small play that nobody paid any attention to turned ugly, quickly. South Alabama's Cordasia Harris appeared to bump Coastal Carolina's Tracey Hueston from behind under the basket. Not exactly a play worthy of what came next. Hueston turned around and started pushing and swinging at Harris, who took to defending herself. Within seconds, benches cleared, staff rushed the court, and two referees were trying to get in between a full-on brawl.

While brawls in basketball aren’t exactly rare, even in the women’s game, referee Marla Gearhart inadvertently caught a flailing arm appearing to take a hit to the head from Hueston and went down to the floor, hard. Gearhart lay motionless as players continued to battle, prompting medical staff, arena personnel, and even a sheriff's deputy to rush onto the court. Fortunately, Gearhart was evaluated and released without serious injury. 

After officials, coaching staff, and arena security got everything back under control, eight players had been ejected. The fallout didn't stop there. Hueston was handed a suspension for the remainder of the 2026 postseason. Harris and two of her South Alabama teammates, Amyah Sutton and Daniela Gonzalez, each received one-game suspensions.

South Alabama did advance as the game continued under a replacement official, winning 80-70. Still, the outcome of the game was overshadowed by the dark cloud that had taken place just minutes earlier.