A feisty altercation that left a referee motionless on the court erupted during a women's basketball match in the USA on Wednesday. The clash between No.12 seed South Alabama and No.9 Coastal Carolina in the second round of the Sun Belt women's basketball tournament descended into chaos with 5:39 remaining in the last quarter. South Alabama's Cordasia Harris - with her side ahead 64-55 - tussled with Coastal Carolina's Tracey Hueston in the paint for position.

Hueston likely took exception to something Harris said, according to ESPN+ commentator Brooke Kirchofer on the broadcast. Hueston turned and threw a punch at Harris, missing her target and instead striking referee Ryan Durham. However, it wasn't he who collapsed: fellow referee Marla Gearhart ended up on the floor following the melee between the two college basketball sides in a fiercely contested pre-2026 March Madness encounter.

Security staff and assistant coaches gathered around Gearhart as she remained still on the floor. The full extent of her injuries remains unknown.

Both Hueston and Harris received technical fouls and subsequent ejections once the disturbance subsided. Six additional South Alabama players were also dismissed, the majority for leaving the bench.

They were: guard Amyah Sutton, forward Daniela Gonzalez, guard Terren Coffil, guard Saneea Bevley, forward Princess Okafor Nweze, and forward Jeriyah Baines. Playing with reduced numbers, South Alabama managed to hold firm for the final 5:39 of the match to claim an 80-70 victory, earning a third-round tie against Texas State.

The squad will likely be without its three leading scorers owing to suspension. Manager Yolisha Jackson addressed the incident during her post-match press conference.

"Well, first of all, our program, we never want to be put in that situation, and we never want to act out like that, so we don't condone what happened today," she said. "It's a very unfortunate situation for two talented basketball teams that have played in Pensacola in the tournament.

"With young people, sometimes emotions run high, and as they go through their growth process and their maturity, sometimes things happen. But we always try to look at it as a lesson learned and make sure the next time that if we are put in a similar situation, we just respond a little differently, and so that's what we'll talk about at the hotel tonight."

Coastal Carolina boss Kevin Pederson shared similar views. "It's unfortunate we had the incident with South (Alabama) today. I know Tracey Hueston regrets that," he said. "She's an incredible model citizen off the floor, and she knows she can't act that way."