A wild girls' college basketball brawl features cheerleaders getting kicked out

College basketball

by Matt Ehalt

Some fans even participated — and got the boot.

A violent on-court brawl Thursday night between the Arkansas State and Southern Miss basketball teams led to the ejection of five players, along with the ejection of three fans in the Lady Eagles' 57-46 win.

It all started when Arkansas State's Emma Emefebore and Southern Miss' leading scorer Domonique Davis scrambled for a rebound late in the second quarter with the Lady Eagles leading 30-26.

Imevbore's post-whistle push led to two of Davis' teammates coming to her defense, with Noelani Cornfield shoving Imevbore.

That's when the turmoil escalated right in front of the Southern Miss bench, as Davis hit the ground after being pushed by Imevbore.

Imevbore and Southern Miss' Brikayla Gray attempted to hit each other before a Lady Eagles player grabbed Imevbore from behind and pulled her away from the scuffle.

When the athlete pulled away, she fell to the ground, knocking down Southern Miss assistant coach Jessica Barber.

Al-Hallaq had to be helped to the locker room and brought back after the end of the first half with crutches. According to the Hattiesburg American newspaper.

The referees tried to break up the match, but the situation was already out of control.

“This could get ugly, it has gotten ugly,” one announcer said.

As the players walked off the field, three fans walked onto the field, one even putting his hands on the referee to move him out of the way to tend to one of the players.

Said fan started screaming — it's hard to tell who — and started moving forward, only to be stopped by one of the Southern Miss players.

The brawl eventually led to Imevbore, Cornfield, Davis, Gray and Southern Miss' Ashja Leake being ejected.

Despite trailing by four at halftime, the Lady Eagles were able to pull out the win to improve to 14-10 overall and 7-6 in Sun Belt play.

“I can't really comment because I have to follow conference guidelines.” Southern Miss coach Joey Lee McNelis said After the game. “I think it's very unfortunate.

“I believe that in every incident you encounter in life, you learn. You may not like the consequences, but you will learn from them. I believe that this thing, which we do not think we should have done, will not happen again. It will not happen again. We have to understand That every decision we make, wherever we are in life, will determine our future – whether that be tomorrow, the next day, or whatever.”