2 UNLV women’s basketball players get 1-game suspension for on-court brawl

The Mountain West handed down one-game suspensions Tuesday to UNLV women’s basketball players Katie Powell and Paris Strawther for their involvement in Saturday’s fight against Utah State at Cox Pavilion.

Powell and Strawther will serve their suspensions Wednesday when UNLV hosts New Mexico at 6 p.m. at Cox Pavilion.

“I would like to sincerely and deeply apologize for the actions of our team on Saturday afternoon,” Lady Rebels coach Kathy Olivier said in a statement. “In our program we take a great deal of pride in representing UNLV in a positive manner.

“The altercation on Saturday does not represent who the Lady Rebels are. We are a passionate and very competitive team. However, our emotions got the best of us. The competitive spirit from both sides was high, but no matter what happened, it should never get to that level. We want to apologize to our fans and the UNLV community.”

Utah State’s Antoina Robinson and Powell were given automatic one-game suspensions for fighting in the third quarter of UNLV’s 55-53 overtime win.

Per UNLV’s release, Strawther was given her suspension for “making physical contact while attempting to break up the incident.”

The six players ejected from the game for leaving the bench — which included UNLV’s Rodjanae Wade, Destiney Lee and Kennedy Wharton — did not receive suspensions but were publicly reprimanded by the Mountain West.

Powell also was publicly reprimanded by the Mountain West for her comments after the game. She said Robinson had been playing a little dirty.

“Words were exchanged. I just told her to chill out,” Powell said Saturday. “And then we came to the other side of the floor. Brooke (Johnson) got fouled. I was walking to go help her up. She bumped me and then pushed me and then I just kind of swung at her.”

The suspensions will leave the Lady Rebels (11-5, 2-2 MW) with only eight players — and minus two starters — for Wednesday’s game against first-place New Mexico (8-6, 4-0).

Strawther, a sophomore forward, is averaging 9.2 points and 6.3 rebounds, and Powell, a sophomore center, averages 7.8 points and 6.1 rebounds. With the team’s top three rebounders out — the other, Nikki Wheatley, is out for the season with a torn meniscus — the Lady Rebels will have to adjust against New Mexico.

“I think for our group we know that everyone’s got to step up,” Olivier said. “All eight people need to step up and give it everything they have. We definitely lost some size and some rebounding, but we haven’t lost our heart and our passion, so we’re going to put our best foot forward for tomorrow’s game.”

Per the Mountain West release, both programs have “been admonished to ensure their programs have a clear understanding of the rule and necessary compliance going forward,” after additional video determined that both teams had more personnel come onto the court and should have been ejected.

“We appreciate the leadership from the Mountain West on the incident that occurred during Saturday’s women’s basketball game,” athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy said in a statement. “What happened does not reflect the values and standards of sportsmanship we expect from our programs. We support the conference’s decision on the penalties, and we will use this situation as a teaching moment for our entire athletics department.”

Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.