A melee that broke out in the fourth quarter of the SEC women’s basketball tournament championship game Sunday led to mass ejections and the arrest of a brother of one of the players.
During a wild scene in Greenville, S.C., where undefeated and top-ranked South Carolina was taking on No. 8 LSU, Trayron Milton, the 24-year-old brother of LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson, jumped over the scorer’s table and came onto the court after his sister was shoved by South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso. He was quickly led away by police officers and placed in handcuffs before being taken down the arena tunnel. He was charged Sunday evening with third-degree assault and battery and disorderly conduct by the Greenville Police Department in the incident, in which an SEC employee was injured.
“While Milton was jumping over the barrier, the victim was sitting at the scorer’s table at the edge of the court,” police said in a news release (via The State.com). “To get over the table, Milton came from behind the table, pushed down on the victim’s head, and stepped on her shoulders to jump over.”
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Two other spectators jumped over the barrier but quickly were stopped by officers.
After officials conferred for nearly 20 minutes, they declared the rest of the game would proceed with just five players available for LSU and six for South Carolina. Everyone else was ejected, including Cardoso. Reserve players for both sides were ejected for coming onto the court, but they were not considered to have participated directly in the scuffle.
“It’s ugly,” Tigers Coach Kim Mulkey said of the incident. “It’s not good. No one wants to be a part of that.”
The tussle erupted late in South Carolina’s 79-72 win. After the Gamecocks’ MiLaysia Fulwiley stole the ball from Johnson, Johnson delivered a physical foul on Fulwiley. While walking away, Johnson pushed South Carolina’s Ashlyn Watkins, and Cardoso shoved Johnson to the floor.
Both teams converged as coaches and officials tried to intervene, and a man briefly jumped into the fray. Mulkey later said she believed it was Johnson’s brother.
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Mulkey also criticized Cardoso, officially listed as 6-foot-7, for targeting the 5-10 Johnson.
“No one wants to see that ugliness, but I can tell you this: I wish [Cardoso] would have pushed [6-3 LSU star] Angel Reese,” Mulkey said at a postgame news conference. “Don’t push a kid — you’re 6-8; don’t push somebody that little. That was uncalled for, in my opinion. Let those two girls that were jawing, let them go at it.”
In an on-court interview with ESPN right after the tense contest ended, South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley apologized to “the basketball community” for the scene.
“When you’re playing in championship games like this, in our league, things get heated,” said Staley, whose program won its eighth SEC tournament title in the past 10 seasons. “No bad intentions. Their emotions got so far ahead of them that sometimes these things happen, so I want to apologize for us playing a part in that. That’s not who we are, and that’s not what we’re about.”
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Cardoso also issued an apology, saying in a post on X that her behavior “was not representative of who I am as a person or the South Carolina program, and I deeply regret any discomfort or inconvenience it may have caused.”
“I take full responsibility for my actions,” Cardoso continued, “and assure you that I am committed to conducting myself with the utmost respect and sportsmanship in the future.”
Because Cardoso was ejected for fighting, she will be suspended for South Carolina’s next game, which will take place in the first round of the NCAA tournament. A senior from Brazil, Cardoso was the hero of the Gamecocks’ semifinal win Saturday over Tennessee: She banked in a three-pointer as time expired to give her team a one-point victory.
When Sunday’s game resumed with just over two minutes remaining, reserve Gamecocks forward Sania Feagin was in as a substitute for Cardoso. As a result of a technical foul called on South Carolina, LSU’s Hailey Van Lith was sent alone to the free throw line for two shots.
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Fulwiley, a freshman guard who scored 24 points Sunday for South Carolina, was named SEC tournament MVP. Per reports from the arena, the Gamecocks’ ejected players did not return for the trophy presentation.
“I’ve never been part of a game like that, but of course, you know, two heavy hitters — we’re going to battle,” said Reese, who helped LSU to its first national championship last season and had 15 points and 13 rebounds Sunday. “We’re not scared of them; they’re not scared of us. … And it went in ways that we didn’t want it to go, but I’m proud of this team. We fought, we fought, we fought with five, maybe six healthy players, if that. Just know: We’re not scared, and we’re in a place right now that I’m proud of, and I’m happy with where we are right now.”
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