The WNBA has handed down suspensions to five players for their roles in a fight during Saturday's Dallas-Phoenix game, with Mercury center Brittney Griner receiving the longest ban at three games.
Wings forwards Kristine Anigwe and Kayla Thornton were each suspended two games. Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi and Dallas forward Kaela Davis each received one-game bans and a $500 fine for leaving the bench area, and Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner was fined $500 for escalating the incident.
With 6:23 left in the fourth quarter Saturday, Griner and Anigwe got tangled up in the lane and a scuffle ensued. The Mercury's 6-foot-8 center had to be restrained by an official at midcourt, where she was still trying to get at Dallas players. After about a 10-minute review, the officials ejected Phoenix's Griner, Taurasi and Briann January and Dallas' Anigwe, Thornton and Davis.
The league carries a minimum one-game suspension if a player attempts to throw a punch or leaves the bench area during an altercation.
Griner, Anigwe and Thornton will start their suspensions Wednesday. Taurasi will serve hers once she is cleared to play, and Davis will miss Sunday's game against the Connecticut Sun.
There haven't been many fights in the 23-year history of the WNBA. The biggest was a brawl between Los Angeles and Detroit in 2008 when 10 players, as well as an assistant coach for the Shock, were suspended for their actions. Plenette Pierson, who was deemed to have initiated the altercation, got a four-game suspension, the most of anyone in that fight.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
