Aussie basketballer ‘sucker punched’, charges laid in handshake scandal

Australian basketballer Elissa Brett was knocked to the ground and appeared in distress after being punched in the middle of a handshake line.

The college hoops star appeared to be “sucker punched” by a rival player during her team’s Women’s National Invitational Tournament victory in Ohio on Friday.

The scandal erupted after the final buzzer of Bowling Green University’s win over Memphis with video capturing the moment Tigers player Jamirah Shute stopped in the middle of the court during the routine handshake exchange before appearing to strike Brett.

The video shows nearby officials were left staggered by the incident with Brett left lying on the floor as Shute was escorted off the court by a team official.

Brett, who describes herself as an Adelaide product, was left with “swelling to her right eye” — according to a local police report.

The video shows she was helped to the team’s dressing room after getting back to her feet.

Shutes has now been charged with assault.

The Bowling Green State University Police Department issued a press release on Saturday confirming that Shutes, a fifth-year player, was charged after the “unwarranted physical incident” involving Brett at the conclusion of BGSU’s 73-60 victory, Fox News reports.

“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,” the statement said.

“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.”

Police said BGSU Athletics was also conducting its own review.

Memphis released a statement Friday confirming that it was working with local authorities.

“The incident that occurred following Thursday’s women’s basketball game was extremely unfortunate and certainly not consistent with, or representative of, our expectations for our programs and student-athletes,” the statement said.

“Because the incident occurred after the game, jurisdiction falls in the hands of local authorities, and we are co-operating fully with their process. To be respectful of that process, we will not comment further until it is complete.”

A Tennessee native, Shutes became the 27th player in program history to score 1,000 points. She ranks 13th at the school all-time in career points.