Brawling in women's basketball?

StevenHW

StevenHW

Starter
#1
#1
As most of you probably know by now, there was an ugly brawl involving the Denver Nuggets and the N.Y. Knicks last weekend. Several players were suspended and fined. It was almost as bad as the bench-clearing Pacers/Pistons brawl (which also involved the Pistons' fans) in 2004.

That got me wondering: has there ever been any really ugly brawls or fights in women's basketball, either in college or in the WNBA?

Personally, I have not seen one, either on TV or in person, and I don't hope to! But I am well aware of the following skirmishes:

1. Nancy Lieberman-Cline grabbing Jamila Wideman's throat during a game in the WNBA's inaugural 1997 season. Nancy was later fined $500 for the incident.

2. Latasha Byears (then with the Sparks) throwing a ball directly at Michelle Marciniak's face. Michelle retaliated by charging at Latasha.

3. One week later, Orlando Miracle player Jessie Hicks and the Charlotte Sting's Summer Erb got into it after chasing a loose ball. After some pushing and shoving, Jessie punched Summer in the cheek. Summer swung back, but missed. Summer stayed in the game, but Jessie was ejected and later fined and suspended for one game. (http://espn.go.com/wnba/news/2002/0718/1407388.html)

Wasn't there one in '04 or '05 involving Dee Taurasi and Delisha Milton-Jones? Also, wasn't there some rough stuff with TN Lady Vols' Semeka Randall allegedly slamming UConn's Sveta Abrosimova's head on the floor?

What was the ugliest (fight-wise) incident you ever saw in the women's game?
 
Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#2
#2
Didn't Delisha Milton spit at Yolanda Griffith in a Sparks versus Monarchs game once. i seem to remember that.

Also, Lisa Leslie versus Tina Thompson in 98 or 99. Trojan sisters throwing down.
 
RoyalDiva

RoyalDiva

Starter
#3
#3
THere was a mass brawl about seven years ago between the Shock and another team I can't remember. It wasn't massive, but there were several players involved. I remember that Dominique Canty was one of the players involved, but I don't know who else or what happened.
 
MamaBristow

MamaBristow

Bench
#4
#4
The ugliest one I saw involved the Detroit Shock's point guard Elaine Powell. I think it happened in the offseason prior to the 2005 season. She beat the living daylights out of an opposing player overseas during the Polish Cup. The girl was already on the floor when Powell snapped. She beat her up enough to land her in the hospital with broken bones in her face and ended her season I believe. There was video of the incident on the net when it happened, don't know if it's still out there. It was brutal. Deanna Nolan was Powell's teammate and dropped the ball on the girl's face after Elaine was done beating the crap out of her (maybe an accident, but it didn't look like it).

Then there was the incident where Powell punched Coco Miller in the side of the head and no one noticed until reviewing video. That was in either 2005 or 2006... don't remember for sure.

Mwadi Mabika has had her fair share of incidents, the only one I've actually seen myself was this past season against SASS. Anyone remember who she took out? I think it was Wecker... but I'm not positive.
 
Rockmeister

Rockmeister

All-Star
#5
#5
MamaBristow said:
The ugliest one I saw involved the Detroit Shock's point guard Elaine Powell. I think it happened in the offseason prior to the 2005 season. She beat the living daylights out of an opposing player overseas during the Polish Cup. The girl was already on the floor when Powell snapped. She beat her up enough to land her in the hospital with broken bones in her face and ended her season I believe. There was video of the incident on the net when it happened, don't know if it's still out there. It was brutal. Deanna Nolan was Powell's teammate and dropped the ball on the girl's face after Elaine was done beating the crap out of her (maybe an accident, but it didn't look like it).
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That's pretty bad. What did that player do to Powell that she deserved to be beaten up? Did Elain or Deanna get suspended? For your description, they should have been.
 
Monty'sBiggestFan

Monty'sBiggestFan

Starter
#7
#7
In the W hands down the ugliest mayhem I saw get airtime on most if not all of the major cable news was that one that Diva mentioned involving Detroit and maybe Cleveland and I want to say that Cindy Brown was involved. Punches I remember were thrown which I think was why it got airtime. I distinctly remembered rolling my eyes because I saw highlights of the fight on the Headline News channel and they NEVER showed any W related highlights up until then.

Next on my list HAS to be the mess between the Sparks and the Storm in 2002, both because of the two involved Byears and Marciniak(MM had to rank on the all time dirtiest W players in league history) and because ESPN quickly made a point to drop a scheduled Monarchs Starzz TV matchup to pick up the next meeting between LA and Seattle for a national broadcast. The other juiciness was that that particular brawl had been building from incidents that took place during shoot around earlier that day between the two teams. Something was going to happen, and I remember listening to that game on Audio Pass and the Storm announcer kept talking about how things were starting to get out of hand and it kept going.
 
GeorgeofSacramento

GeorgeofSacramento

Bench
#11
#11
And it spreads across beyond our shores....

from China.org.cn

Women Basketball: Miao Gets Punishment for Fighting Miao Lijie, a star player with the Heilongjiang women's basketball team, has been banned from playing WCBA matches for the next four rounds.
The punishment was meted out in the wake of her inappropriate conduct on the court during a domestic league match last Tuesday.
Miao, who is also the national team's guard, provoked a fight with players from the rival Jilin team during the WCBA's 8th round Tuesday night.
Miao was handed a four-game suspension and a fine of 6,000 yuan, or over 700 US dollars. The other player involved in the fight received a two-game ban as well as 3,000 yuan fine. Both teams were fined 2,000 yuan.
Miao Lijie played for US WNBA's champions Sacramento Monarchs last season.
(CRI December 9, 2005)
 
GeorgeofSacramento

GeorgeofSacramento

Bench
#12
#12
OMG. And it spills off the court, too!

From CNNsi.com:
WNBA player detained in Israel

Chicago's Jackson arrested for assaulting opponent

Posted: Friday April 27, 2007 11:55AM; Updated: Friday April 27, 2007 2:06PM

JERUSALEM (AP) -- WNBA player Deanna Jackson was arrested on an assault charge after slugging an opposing player in a parking lot following a game, and will not be allowed to leave Israel until after the Chicago Sky's preseason opener.
Jackson, a 6-foot-2 forward who averaged 6 points a game last season for the Sky, spent this winter playing for Anda Ramat Hasharon of the Israeli league.
She was arrested Wednesday night after attacking Ina Gourevitch, an Elitzur Ramle guard, following the league championship game won 81-68 by Ramle. In the closing minutes of the game, Jackson and Gourevitch got into a skirmish and shouted insults at each other.
Police said the clash spilled into the parking lot, where Jackson sought out Gourevitch and punched her, breaking her nose.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the 27-year-old Jackson was arrested and her passport was confiscated. She had been slated to leave Israel the following morning to join the Sky, whose first preseason game is Wednesday at home against Phoenix.
The Chicago Sky announced Friday that Jackson has been suspended indefinitely.
"We are shocked and embarrassed by this incident, especially since it is completely out of character for Deanna," team owner Michael Alter said in a statement. "But it has no place in the WNBA or the Chicago Sky."
Alter said team officials "spoke with Deanna's agent yesterday, who confirmed that she struck Gourevitch after a game."
Jackson will have to stay in Israel until at least May 3, when she next will appear in court. She also faces a lawsuit filed Thursday by Gourevitch, who is seeking nearly $20,000 in damages.
In a statement released by her Israeli team, Jackson apologized for the incident.
"I did not mean to harm Ina Gourevitch and I apologize to her," she said. "I've never acted this way. It's uncharacteristic of me and I hope that it is now behind me."
Ramle chairman Shmulik Levkovitz said the incident tarnished the championship game and the entire season.
"It leaves a bad taste in the mouth," he said. "With all the competitiveness of the game, we have never had any violence before. This was just so uncalled for."
Jackson is one of 17 WNBA players who spent the winter in Israel. WNBA salaries for the three-month season range from about $31,000 to $90,000, so even top players travel the world each winter in search of extra cash. In Israel, top American players make around $80,000 a season.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
 
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StevenHW

StevenHW

Starter
#13
#13
Kylan Loney and the Mendiola sisters?

Recently, I came across a page from Gaulladet University (a Division III school for the deaf and hard-of-hearing in Washington DC) that was published last year. It shows that Kylan Loney was named the head coach at Gaulladet's women's b-ball team for the 2006-07 season, but resigned afterwards.

http://athletics.gallaudet.edu/?id=10282

The article didn't mention it, but didn't one of the Mendiola sisters (I don't recall if it was Giuli or Gio) when they were at Univ. of Washington literally *****-slap Loney (then with Arizona State Univ.) during the customary post-game congratulations? IIRC, earlier in the game, Loney made some personal remark about the Mendiola brothers.

Confirm anyone?
 
StevenHW

StevenHW

Starter
#15
#15
The recent Sparks/Shock melee got me to revive this thread.

Does that one rank up there among the most more embarrassing moments in women's basketball history?
 
Monty'sBiggestFan

Monty'sBiggestFan

Starter
#16
#16
Yeaaaah, I preeetty much think that will be at the top of the list for how out of control that seemed to get. The Byears ball fired into Marciniak's grill rumble has dropped to second for me even tho that set off little ancillary fires around the court too, but not to this extent.


If something happens to beat what happened in Detroit last night, heaven help the league and Donna Orender, but it probably will.
 
NothinButHoops

NothinButHoops

Starter
#17
#17
Pretty scary stories...can't we just go back to the times when LJ pulled out Lisa Leslie's weave...the non-violent stuff;)

Any word out yet on suspentions or a comment from Donna O?
 
StevenHW

StevenHW

Starter
#18
#18
NothinButHoops said:
Any word out yet on suspentions or a comment from Donna O?
Click to expand...
Haven't heard it yet, but a Los Angeles Times article does say that Donna did watch the game, and this was her immediate reaction:

WNBA President Donna Orender watched the fight unfold on television and shared [Lisa] Leslie's disappointment.

"It was clear emotions were running high," she said. "It's unfortunate that when emotions run over the top, something like this had to happen."

Orender, who has been in the league office since 2005, said she doesn't recall any on-court violence "to this degree."

"We'll spend a lot of time evaluating the tape and reviewing it," she said.
Click to expand...
Here's the entire article:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-sparks23-2008jul23,0,5247623.story

:(
 
NothinButHoops

NothinButHoops

Starter
#19
#19
Thanks steven...just looking at the reaction by Assitant coach M. Stanley, it may very well have been a push, to prevent LL from getting into the mix? Grabbing her would have been better. He a BIG dude!


 
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