Police are investigating a punch that occurred in the handshake line after Bowling Green defeated the Memphis Tigers 73-60 in the third round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament in Ohio on Thursday night. Â
Chaos erupted on the court when Memphis guard Jamirah Shutes stopped to talk with Bowling Green guard Elissa Brett.
At one point during the short exchange, Shutes appeared to swing at Brett’s face.
Brett, a senior, then fell to the floor in front of the scorer’s table at the Stroh Center, and her teammates immediately rushed to her.
Shutes — a fifth-year player, who leads the Tigers in scoring — was quickly pulled from the scene and escorted away by a team staffer.
“The incident that took place following tonight’s home WNIT game has been turned over to the BGSU Police Department,” the school said.
“Bowling Green State University Athletics does not make comments about active police investigations. Our priority is with the health, safety, and support of our student-athletes.”
Shutes took an elbow to her face with 24 seconds left in the first half and played eight minutes, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported.
She returned to start the second half.
A separate report said Brett took a “hard elbow” from Shutes during the game.
Bowling Green coach Robyn Fralich said they were “figuring all those things out,” as to what happened in the handshake line.
Shutes, a second-team All-AAC selection this season, finished with 13 points in her final game with the Tigers.
Brett scored 15 points in the Falcon’s win.
Bowling Green will advance to the NIT quarterfinals.
The incident came after another chippy situation in the handshake line following Louisville’s 73-51 win over Texas on Monday.
Cardinals junior guard Hailey Van Lith and Longhorns senior guard Sonya Morris had a tense exchange before Lith brushed off the handshake and stormed off.