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Female college basketball player charged with assault after allegedly punching opposing player as teams lined up to shake hands following tournament game
(L to R) Memphis Tigers guard Jamirah Shutes escorted off the court; Bowling Green Falcons guard Elissa Brett assisted off the court. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images, composite)

Female college basketball player charged with assault after allegedly punching opposing player as teams lined up to shake hands following tournament game

University of Memphis guard Jamirah Shutes was charged with assault after allegedly punching Bowling Green State University guard Elissa Brett as the teams lined up to shake hands after Bowling Green won a National Invitation Tournament game Thursday night, ESPN reported, citing Bowling Green's campus police.

What are the details?

As the teams' players approached each other in the traditional handshake line following Bowling Green's 73-60 win, ESPN said Shutes stopped to talk to Brett. After a short conversation, the sports network said Shutes appeared to throw a punch at Brett's face, after which Brett fell on the floor.

Memphis player strikes Bowling Green player in handshake line | ESPN College Basketballyoutu.be

ESPN said there was no immediate word about what led to the incident or whether any player was seriously injured. However, the sports network — citing the Memphis Commercial Appeal — said Shutes, the Tigers' leading scorer, was elbowed in her face with 24 seconds left in the opening quarter and played only eight minutes in the first half. ESPN said she returned to start the second half.

Memphis' athletics department on Friday said the incident was "extremely unfortunate and [was] certainly not consistent with, or representative of, our expectations for our programs and student-athletes," ESPN reported.

"Because the incident occurred after the game, jurisdiction falls in the hands of local authorities, and we are cooperating fully with their process," the Memphis athletics department statement also said, according to ESPN. "To be respectful of that process, we will not comment further until it is complete."

Memphis also announced Friday that Coach Katrina Merriweather was resigning to take a job at another school, the sports network said, adding that the social media statement indicated that the coach decided to move on prior to the post-game incident.

Bowling Green Athletics said in a statement Friday that "violence is never acceptable, and our priority remains the health, safety, and support of our student-athlete, who is recovering and doing well. This is an active investigation in conjunction with the City of Bowling Green Prosecutor, and no further comment is available at this time," ESPN reported.

Shutes was a fifth-year player who finished with 13 points in her final game, the sports network said, adding that she was a second-team All-AAC selection this season. ESPN said Brett scored 15 points in the win.

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