All Out Brawl ruled a Double Forfeit: Two top teams share the SWAC title but await terms

After the pure breakout victory of 78-50 on Thursday against Prarie View, Southern University Women’s Basketball Head Coach Sandy Pugh and the women’s basketball team traveled to mark excellence against top seed Texas Southern at H&PE Arena.
Pugh said wholeheartedly that she enjoyed the team she is coaching.
“This is really my all-time favorite,” Pugh said. “They are a team in ever sense of the word. This is the most team-oriented program I’ve ever coached. They genuinely care about each other, and are enjoying every moment.”
This past Saturday against Texas Southern, a dreadful event occurred and regression from Thursday was not a factor. Pugh said it was a disgrace to women’s basketball.
It all began in the past two months while Southern and Texas Southern inadvertently battled for the Southwestern Athletic Conference women’s basketball title.
Their first bout with TSU at F.G. Clark Activity Center at their first SWAC showdown ended in a 48-62 loss, but since then they haven’t tarnished their record to be the top seed.
But at the H&PE Arena, blows were exchanged.
The devastating brawl began beneath Southern’s basket, and extended to cheerleaders and fans throwing multiple punches that furthered proved the necessity of security on the court.
The officials made the call of a double forfeit, but Southern contributed to a 51-49 lead and was awarded the victory which meant sharing the SWAC title between the number one seed.
Pugh, upset about the overall event, spoke on the team’s behalf since teammates were escorted away by security and unable to be reached for comment.
“I’ve been involved with basketball for 30 plus years, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Pugh said. “It’s an embarrassment.”
It all began when TSU’s Miracle Davis took a foul charge beneath the TSU basket.
Pugh mentioned that she was appalled at the flash of the event and at the sight when she said, “I just saw two kids standing up and looking at each other and someone else push and yell. My first reaction is to tell everyone to stay on the bench. But I look up and TSU has two kids running in.”
“One of their kids threw the first punch, and one of our kids was on the ground and someone was just pounding away at her. Next thing I know, it was a melee,” finished Pugh.
TSU’s Alexus Johnson and Diamonsha Sophus threw punches, and security had to hold Johnson back from storming into the Southern locker room.
After the marquee of bad decisions made in the brawl, TSU coach Johnetta Hayes-Perry spoke on the discipline of both teams.
“It was a very undisciplined by both teams and fans on the sideline. I thought after the charge both players were trying to get up, but another player pushed them and that’s all I could see,” said Perry.
Southern University Athletic Director, William Broussard, was appalled as he watch the occurrence from his seat in the arena.
“I saw our coaches on the bench try to form a human chain to hold our players back, but when you see so much going on, and there was the perception that other individuals were rushing the court, then everyone got involved,” said Broussard. “It’s an ugly, unfortunate situation, especially considering it was shaping up to be a great finish.”
Even though it’s rare for such occurrences to appear from Southern, it isn’t the first bench clearing incident they have been involved in this season. Southern and Alabama A&M had a scuffle on February 21.
SU’s freshman guard, Briana Green and Alabama A&M Alganese Gatson dived to the floor competing for a loose ball in which Jadea Brundidge, Shaquandria Litmon and Keonia Parrish rushed to the scene from the bench, resulting in their automatic ejection.
However, no one was suspended for such issues in that game due to the lack of physicality. It may be a different case this time, and more may be on the line.
“They will get the film over to the conference office, and get a word from the officals,” said Broussard, “That will be the pending answer until they review the film.”
Broussard compiled a report and filed it with the conference the night of the occurrence and felt that he could give a fair reverence of what happened. SWAC Associate Commissioner Edgard Gantt was not at the women’s game, but he reviewed the tape later with Broussard and was not able to draw a deductive conclusion in the results of the brawl.
Though the SWAC office will be the deciding factor when it comes to who will deserve the punishment but officials from both schools seem to feel that neither team is blameless. The punishment for violence is a single game suspension and in tournament game rallying, both teams can not afford such casualties.
Though heated incidents occurred, both ocaches were being cordial to each other and very apologetic after game ended.
Pugh, with six SWAC titles in her 15 seasons at Southern apologized to the Jaguar Nation in hopes that these occurrences will be put back and basketball can continue forward.
SWAC tournament begins on Tuesday in which No. 8 seed Alabama A&M faces No. 9 seed Mississippi Valley State at 6 p.m. in Houston, Texas in the Toyota Center. The winner will combat No. 1 seed TSU at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Southern faces No. 7 seed Grambling at noon on Wednesday and with spilling wins in-between the season, they hope to put the past behind them and capture a title and once again finish a game with Texas Southern.