Bowling Green campus police are handling an incident in which a punch was thrown between players after a Women's NIT game between Bowling Green and Memphis. The incident occurred after the Falcons beat the Tigers 73-60 in a Round of 16 game.
According to the Associated Press, as both teams walked towards center court following the game, Memphis' Jamirah Shutes stopped to talk with Bowling Green's Elissa Brett. After a short conversation, Shutes appeared to throw a punch at Brett's face, sending her towards the scorer's table and onto the sideline. While there was no word on what caused the confrontation, it was noted that Shutes had taken an elbow to the face with 2.4 seconds left in the opening quarter.
In a statement, Bowling Green confirmed that a Memphis player had been charged, but did not release the name of the player.
"Following Thursday's unwarranted physical incident after the WNIT home game, the Bowling Green State University Police Department has charged a member of the Memphis women's basketball team with assault, the statement read.
The statement goes on to say that the University is conducting its own review. "Violence is never acceptable and our priority remains the health, safety and support of our student-athlete, who is recovering and doing well. This is an active investigation in conjunction with the City of Bowling Green prosecutor and no further comment is available at this time."
Speaking about the matter in post-game, Bowling Green coach Robyn Fralich did not directly comment on what occurred, saying that they were still trying to figure out what happened in the handshake line.
