South Alabama advances in Sun Belt tournament after top-three scorers suspended because of brawl in previous round

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A short-handed South Alabama women's basketball team advanced in the Sun Belt tournament Thursday in Pensacola, Florida. The 12th-seeded Jaguars (15-17, 5-13 Sun Belt) rode a momentous third quarter to an 69-59 win over the eighth-seeded Texas State Bobcats (11-19, 7-11).

South Alabama's run continued less than 24 hours after a second-round brawl that resulted in a downed official, eight ejections and, eventually, four suspensions.

The Jaguars' top-three scorers — Amyah Sutton, Cordasia Harris and Daniela Gonzalez — all received a one-game ban from the NCAA "because they were deemed to have engaged in a fight," per the Sun Belt.

So did Coastal Carolina's Tracey Hueston, whom the Sun Belt also suspended for the remainder of the season, regardless of the Chanticleers' postseason fate. 

With less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Hueston was caught swinging, including around Marla Gearhart, the official who ultimately hit the deck. 

The altercation begin after tempers flared between Harris and Hueston underneath the basket, with Hueston responding to Harris with physical aggression.

Both of them had to be held back. Gearhart tried to contain Hueston but wound up needing medical attention. Later on, she was evaluated by medical personnel at the Pensacola Bay Center and then released, the Sun Belt said in a Wednesday statement.

Despite seven South Alabama players being thrown out, the Jaguars still held off the Coastal for an 80-70 victory, their second win of the conference tourney. They had already defeated 13th-seeded App State in the first round.

South Alabama athletic director Joel Erdmann explained in a statement Wednesday that the school doesn't condone fighting and that the incident "is extremely unfortunate and unacceptable." 

But he did take issue with the final punishment ruling.

"After an extensive internal review, I do not believe the actions of all three of our student-athletes rose to the level of being classified as fighting as defined by the NCAA rule book," Erdmann said.

"This judgement has negatively impacted the tournament experience of our suspended student-athletes and stripped them of limited opportunities to compete in the postseason."

Coastal AD Chance Miller issued an apology, expressing disappointment "in the actions of one of our women’s basketball student-athletes and program" and stating that "what occurred is not reflective of how our programs are expected to compete or represent Coastal Carolina University," per CBS station WBTW News 13.

In the wake of the fracas, South Alabama persevered, in part thanks to a career-high 22 points from redshirt sophomore guard Tamara Ortiz and 12 points off the bench from freshman forward Jeriyah Baines. 

The Jaguars were trailing by five points at halftime but rallied to outscore Texas State in the third quarter 25-8.

South Alabama, once 9-17 after a 10-game skid, has now won six straight games, including three in a row in the Sun Belt tournament, and will play fifth-seeded Marshall on Friday in fourth-round action.