A fight broke out between players during Sunday night’s SEC Championship game between the LSU Tigers and the South Carolina Gamecocks. Several players were ejected from the game.
There was 2:08 left in the fourth quarter, and South Carolina was leading 73-66 when LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson pulled MiLaysia Fulwiley’s jersey. She then bumped into South Carolina’s Ashlyn Watkins. This led to Kamilla Cardoso rushing over to Watkins and pushing Johnson.
Players left their benches to help their teammates before coaches and staff separated them. The game was delayed by 20 minutes, according to Complex.
LSU and South Carolina players got into a scuffle in the fourth quarter of the SEC Championship. pic.twitter.com/rXw1tb1jWM
— ESPN (@espn) March 10, 2024
Johnson was given an intentional foul, and Cardoso was ejected. Every player who left the bench was removed from the game. Only six South Carolina players and five LSU players remained on the court for the remaining two minutes. The Gamecocks won 79-72.
“I just want to apologize to the basketball community,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley told ESPN in an on-court postgame interview. “You know when you’re playing a championship game like this in our league things get heated. No bad intentions.”
“Their emotions got so far ahead of them that sometimes these things happen,” she added. “So I want to apologize for us playing a part in that, because that’s not who we are and that’s not what we’re about. But I’m happy for the players that were able to finish the game and get us another championship.”
I would like to extend my sincerest apologies for my actions during today’s game. My behavior was not representative of who I am as a person or the South Carolina program, and I deeply regret any discomfort or inconvenience it may have caused. I take full responsibility for my…
— Kamilla_Cardoso (@Kamillascsilva) March 10, 2024
LSU coach Kim Mulkey said she didn’t understand why none of the South Carolina coaches who left the bench were ejected.
“We didn’t have any ejections. They had an ejection. They told me Cardoso was the only one ejected for fighting,” Mulkey said. “But my question is, I don’t really know the rules; why weren’t the coaches tossed if they left the bench? Wouldn’t that be a hell of an ending?”
“I guess it’s just the players that leave the bench area,” she added. “I don’t know. It’s ugly. It’s not good. No one wants to be a part of that. No one wants to see that ugliness.”
