sport news Memphis guard Jamirah Shutes pleads NOT GUILTY on assault charge after Bowling ... trends now
The University of Memphis basketball player who was charged with assault in Ohio after punching a Bowling Green player during post-game handshakes has pleaded not guilty, according to TMZ.
Memphis guard Jamirah Shutes' plea was entered in an Ohio court on Wednesday through her attorney, Steven Crossmock, who did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for confirmation. She is due back in court next month, TMZ reports.
As the teams walked toward center court following Bowling Green's 73-60 win in Women's NIT, Shutes stopped to talk with Falcons' player Elissa Brett.
After a short conversation, Shutes appeared to throw a punch at Brett's face. Brett fell toward the scorer's table and onto the sideline.
There has been no explanation about what caused the confrontation. However, the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper reported that Shutes took an elbow to her face with 24 seconds left in the opening quarter and played just eight minutes in the first half. She returned to start the second half.
" class="c6" scrolling="no"
Memphis Tigers guard Jamirah Shutes (23) is escorted off of the court after the altercation
Bowling Green Falcons guard Elissa Brett (5), left, is assisted off of the court after the incident
'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,' read a statement from the BGSU athletic department.
'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.'
Bowling Green coach Robyn Fralich didn't directly comment on the incident after the game, saying only that they were 'figuring all those things out,' as far as what happened in the handshake line.
Memphis' athletics department said Friday that the incident was 'extremely unfortunate and certainly not consistent with, or representative of, our expectations for our programs and student-athletes.'
'Because the incident occurred after the game, jurisdiction falls in the hands of local authorities, and we are cooperating fully with their process,' the statement said. 'To be
