5 Players Ejected After Near Brawl During Phoenix-Dallas WNBA Game
NEW YORK (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — It started with a tangle up in the paint and almost ended with blows... now WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league is looking into the near fisticuffs in the Dallas-Phoenix game on Saturday.
Once tempers calmed, and video was reviewed, Brittney Griner and five other players were ejected.
"We are already following and activated our usual protocol around events like this," Engelbert told The Associated Press at halftime of the New York Liberty game on Sunday. "It's an emotional game and these women are elite athletes trying their hardest to win."
With 6:23 left in the final period, Griner and Dallas rookie Kristine Anigwe got tangled up in the lane and a scuffle ensued. The Mercury's 6-foot-8 center had to be restrained by an official at midcourt, where she was still trying to get at Dallas players. After about a 10-minute review, the officials ejected Griner, Diana Taurasi and Briann January from Phoenix. Taurasi was inactive for the game, but was tossed for leaving the bench area.
Anigwe, Kayla Thornton and Kaela Davis were ejected for Dallas.
"We're looking at all the video and talking to all the folks. We have people on planes today. We're all here. We're on it," Engelbert said.
The league carries a minimum one-game suspension if a player attempts to throw a punch or if a player leaves the bench area during an altercation.
There haven't been too many fights in WNBA history. The biggest was a brawl between Los Angeles and Detroit in 2008 when 10 players were suspended for their actions, as well as an assistant coach for the Shock. Plenette Pierson, who was deemed to have initiated the altercation, got a four-game suspension — the most of anyone in that fight.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
