Memphis’ Jamirah Shutes charged with assault after sucker punch

Memphis women’s basketball star Jamirah Shutes has been charged with assault after appearing to punch a Bowling Green player in the handshake line Thursday night.

Bowling Green released a statement to Ohio CBS affiliate WTOL saying that Shutes has been criminally charged.

Shutes, a senior guard on Memphis, made second-team All-AAC this season.

In the handshake line after Bowling Green defeated Memphis 73-60 in the NIT’s Round of 16 on Thursday night, Shutes stopped to exchange words with Bowling Green guard Elissa Brett and appeared to throw a punch.

“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,” Bowling Green’s statement said.

“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.”

It is unclear what sparked the incident, though the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that Shutes was elbowed in the face late in the first half.

Memphis’ athletics department released a statement about the handshake line incident on Friday.

“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 cooperating fully with their process.

To be respectful of that process, we will not comment further until it is complete.”

At 15.3 points per game this season, Shutes was Memphis’ leading scorer.