Memphis player charged with assault after Bowling Green player appears to get punched following WNIT game
Jamirah Shutes appeared to hit Elissa Brett in the postgame handshake line
An assault charge has been filed by the Bowling Green State University police after Memphis' Jamirah Shutes appeared to punch Bowling Green’s Elissa Brett in the head after the Falcons’ WNIT win on Thursday night.
As the teams walked to midcourse for the customary postgame handshake, Shutes stopped and spoke with Brett. After a brief conversation, she appeared to punch Brett and Brett fell toward the scorers table.
Absolutely hate to see this...Elissa Brett punched in the face after Bowling Green's #WNIT victory over Memphis
She fell to the ground after being hit but fortunately was able to walk back to the locker room with some assistance. Hopefully she's okay! pic.twitter.com/3UxtvJaUoV— H. Tyler Seggerman (@TylerSeggerman) March 24, 2023
Shortly after the incident occurred, Bowling Green said the incident had been referred to university police and announced Friday morning that a player had been charged. Neither Shutes nor any other Memphis player was named in the release.
“Following Thursday’s unwarranted physical incident after the WNIT home game, the Bowling Green State University Police Department has charged a member of the Memphis women’s basketball team with assault," Bowling Green said. "Additionally, BGSU athletics is conducting its own review. 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.”
Memphis released a statement Friday morning and said it was cooperating fully with police.
“The incident that occurred following Thursday’s women’s basketball game was extremely unfortunate and certainly not consistent with, or representative of, our expectations for our programs and student-athletes," Memphis said. "Because the incident occurred after the game, jurisdiction falls in the hands of local authorities and we are cooperating fully with their process. To be respectful of that process, we will not comment further until it’s complete.”
Thursday’s game was Shutes’ final game with the Tigers after she completed her fifth season with the program. She’s one of 27 players in Memphis history to score over 1,000 career points and was a second-team All-AAC selection this season as she led the Tigers with 15 points per game.
Brett has been Bowling Green’s leading scorer this season with nearly 15 points per game herself. The Australia native has played four seasons for the Falcons. Shutes had 13 points Thursday night while Brett had 15.
The win means Bowling Green will host Florida on Monday to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.
