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Police Announce Charges for Women's Basketball Player Who Attacked Opponent

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Less than 24 hours after the incident, police announced charges against a Memphis Tigers women’s basketball player who appeared to sucker-punch an opponent after a Women’s NIT game March 23.

Bowling Green State University police announced the next day that Memphis senior guard Jamirah Shutes had been charged with assault in the ugly incident following the Tigers’ loss to the host Falcons at the Stroh Center on the Ohio campus.

“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 in a statement, per the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Curiously, this might not be the end of Shutes’ woes.

“Additionally, BGSU Athletics is conducting its own review,” the university said in its statement. “Violence is never acceptable and our priority remains the health, safety and support of our student-athlete, who is recovering and doing well.”

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Bowling Green said the investigation was ongoing and the city prosecutor was involved.

“This is an active investigation in conjunction with the City of Bowling Green Prosecutor, and no further comment is available at this time,” the university said.

Shutes was caught on national television appearing to sucker-punch Bowling Green senior guard Elissa Brett during the handshake line after the game was over.

The Falcons had just beaten Memphis 73-60 in the WNIT’s round of 16.

You can see the “ugly, ugly” incident for yourself below:

When Shutes and Brett, who is from Australia, met in the handshake line, the two exchanged words before Shutes appeared to strike Brett. The Bowling Green guard then fell to the floor near the scorer’s table.

Memphis said in a statement that it was cooperating fully with Bowling Green police, the Commercial Appeal reported.

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As to what initially triggered the outburst, the Memphis outlet and others said Shutes had been hit in the face in the first quarter after being double-teamed by Brett and Falcons teammate Sophie Dziekan. The latter is alleged to have hit the Memphis guard inadvertently while diving for a loose ball.

Shutes left the game with an injury and didn’t return until the second half.

Are police right to charge Shutes?

The fifth-year senior, who was the Tigers’ leading scorer this year, finished the game with 13 points.

Brett, also a senior, finished the game with 15 points.

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Bryan Chai has written news and sports for The Western Journal for more than five years and has produced more than 1,300 stories. He specializes in the NBA and NFL as well as politics.
Bryan Chai has written news and sports for The Western Journal for more than five years and has produced more than 1,300 stories. He specializes in the NBA and NFL as well as politics. He graduated with a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona. He is an avid fan of sports, video games, politics and debate.
Birthplace
Hawaii
Education
Class of 2010 University of Arizona. BEAR DOWN.
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English, Korean
Topics of Expertise
Sports, Entertainment, Science/Tech




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