Auburn at Alabama erupts in a brawl, three players ejected
Update: Friday afternoon the SEC announced additional suspensions for Alabama sophomore guard Breanna Hayden and Auburn senior guard Hasina Muhammad:
Upon consultation with Alabama and Auburn, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive has announced that the SEC has accepted each institution’s additional game suspension of Alabama sophomore guard Breanna Hayden and Auburn senior guard Hasina Muhammad, who both received a one-game suspension from the NCAA for fighting.
Hayden and Muhammad were each issued a Flagrant 2 foul for fighting and by NCAA playing rules were ejected for the remainder of the game and suspended one game.
This action is taken in accordance with Southeastern Conference Constitution, Article 4.4.2 (d) which states that a student-athlete may be suspended if it is determined that the student-athlete has committed a flagrant or unsportsmanlike act.
Alabama slid by Auburn, 51-50, Thursday night in a wild game of in-state rivals that included three ejections after opposing players engaged in a brawl.
After a Tanner FT with 1:14 to play, a fight breaks out. Officials are going to review exactly what happened.
— Auburn W Basketball (@AuburnWBB) January 23, 2015
At the 1:17 mark of the first half, a fight broke out that resulted in three players – Auburn’s Hasina Muhammad and Alabama’s Breanna Hayden plus Meoshonti Knight – being ejected from the game.
Hayden threw a punch at Muhammad who in turn retaliated. In the midst of breaking up the fight referee Angelica Suffren was pushed to the ground when she tried to intervene after the first punch.
“You’re always disappointed in situations like that,” said Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. “You never want to see either player from either side ejected from the game. This is the game that they love, the game that they practice to play, and so you never want that to happen.”
The Alabama Athletics website recap of the game does not mention the brawl at all and no questions were shown that addressed the fight in the postgame presser video.
“I’m really, really proud for our kids to find a way to win,” said Alabama head coach Kristy Curry in her opening statement. “It was ugly down the stretch, but we were fortunate to get enough stops and a quick one there at the end.”
In Division II, a fight broke out during a Washburn University of Topeka at Central Oklahoma game. Washburn player Honor Duvall punched opposing player McKenzie Solberg with a closed fist, knocking her to the ground.
It’s just too bad. You can’t do that, you just can’t. I don’t care what they do to you,” Washburn coach Ron McHenry said according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. “I don’t think any blows were thrown by the other kid — (the officials) didn’t see any on the monitor. You just can’t do that.”
