A fight in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter in the SEC Championship game between the LSU Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks led to several players getting ejected from the intense matchup.
The incident took place when there was 2:08 left in the fourth quarter and South Carolina was ahead of LSU 73-66. Tigers guard Flau'jae Johnson got in front of MiLaysia Fulwiley, freshmen guard for the Gamecocks, and pulled her jersey as she was advancing the ball down the court.
Johnson then bumped into South Carolina's Ashlyn Watkins, which led Gamecocks center Kamilla Cardoso to rush over to her and knock Johnson to the ground. Players on both sides left their respective benches to help their team before coaches and staff separated them.
At one point, a fan whom ESPN identified as Johnson's brother hopped on the court and moved Cardoso to defend his sister. Police eventually escorted him off the court, and the game was delayed for over 20 minutes while referees assessed the situation.
Officials decided to hit Johnson with an intentional foul, and Cardoso was ejected for shoving her. Every player who had left their team's bench was also removed from the game except for South Carolina's Sania Feagin, who stayed in the Gamecocks' bench area, and Te-Hina Paopao, who was already at the scorer's table to enter the game.
South Carolina was left with six players and LSU with five for the last two minutes of the game following the ejections. The Gamecocks ended up winning the game 79-72 and improving their record to 32-0. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley apologized for the incident during an on-court postgame interview with ESPN.
"I just want to apologize to the basketball community," coach Staley said. "You know when you're playing a championship game like this in our league things get heated. No bad intentions."
She continued, "Their emotions got so far ahead of them that sometimes these things happen. 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."
LSU coach Kim Mulkey also gave a postgame interview where she couldn't understand why none of the coaches who left South Carolina's bench were also 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."
She added, "But I guess it's just the players that leave the bench area. 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."
Mulkey also said Cardoso shoving Johnson was "uncalled for" and acknowledged the size difference between Cardoso, who is 6-foot-7, and Johnson, who is 5-foot-10. "I can tell you this, I wish she would have pushed Angel Reese. Don't push a kid — you (are) 6-8. Don't push somebody that little," said Mulkey.
Cardoso, who will miss the Gamecocks first round NCAA Tournament game due to the ejection, hopped on X to apologize for her actions and took full responsibility for what transpired, saying: "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."
She added, "I take full responsibility for my actions and assure you that I am committed to conducting myself with the utmost respect and sportsmanship in the future."
