TCU, George Washington players ejected after wild brawl sparked by hair pull

Eight players were ejected from TCU’s win over George Washington on Monday night after a brawl late in the first half of a women's basketball game.

Five George Washington players and three Horned Frogs players were tossed from the game at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth midway through the second quarter. The altercation appeared to start after Colonials guard Essence Brown pulled TCU forward Bella Cravens’ hair while trying to get a rebound in the lane. It’s unclear whether the hair pull was intentional, but the two quickly got into it before teammates and coaches separated them.

In total, the game was stopped for nearly 20 minutes while officials sorted the situation out. Cravens, Lucy Ibeh and Roxane Makolo were ejected for TCU, and Brown, Nya Robertson, Jayla Thornton, Caia Loving and Nya Lok were ejected for George Washington.

"We never want to be a part of anything like that," TCU coach Raegan Pebley said. "It doesn't matter to me one bit who started it, who said what. It doesn't matter. We don't ever want to be a part of anything like that. I definitely know that we have, as do they, high-character kids that the moment got away from all of them.”

Neither the Big 12 nor the Atlantic 10 conferences have addressed the incident yet. It’s unknown what punishments will be handed down.

"Yesterday's incident was obviously challenging and unfortunate for our student-athletes and coaches, and we are working with the necessary parties on the path forward," George Washington said in a statement to ESPN.

TCU held a 27-24 lead when the altercation took place, and it took an eight-point lead at the break. The Horned Frogs then held George Washington to just three points in the final 4:58 of the game on Monday night to secure the 70-58 win.