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A short-handed South Alabama women's basketball team advanced in the Sun Belt tournament Thursday in Pensacola, Florida. The 12th-seeded Jaguars (15-17, 5-13 Sun Belt) rode a momentous third quarter to a 69-59 win over the eighth-seeded Texas State Bobcats (11-19, 7-11).

South Alabama's run continued less than 24 hours after a second-round brawl that resulted in a downed official, eight ejections and, eventually, four suspensions.

The Jaguars' top-three scorers — Amyah Sutton, Cordasia Harris and Daniela Gonzalez — all received a one-game ban from the NCAA "because they were deemed to have engaged in a fight," per the Sun Belt.

So did Coastal Carolina's Tracey Hueston, whom the Sun Belt also suspended for the remainder of the season, regardless of the Chanticleers' postseason fate. 

With less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Hueston was caught swinging, including around Marla Gearhart, the official who ultimately hit the deck. 

The altercation began after tempers flared between Harris and Hueston underneath the basket, with Hueston responding to Harris with physical aggression.

Both of them had to be held back. Gearhart tried to contain Hueston but wound up needing medical attention. Later on, she was evaluated by medical personnel at the Pensacola Bay Center and then released, the Sun Belt said in a Wednesday statement.

Despite seven South Alabama players being thrown out, the Jaguars still held off the Coastal for an 80-70 victory, their second win of the conference tourney. They had already defeated 13th-seeded App State in the first round.

South Alabama athletic director Joel Erdmann explained in a statement Wednesday that the school doesn't condone fighting and that the incident "is extremely unfortunate and unacceptable." 

But he did take issue with the final punishment ruling.

"After an extensive internal review, I do not believe the actions of all three of our student-athletes rose to the level of being classified as fighting as defined by the NCAA rule book," Erdmann said.

"This judgement has negatively impacted the tournament experience of our suspended student-athletes and stripped them of limited opportunities to compete in the postseason."

Coastal AD Chance Miller issued an apology, expressing disappointment "in the actions of one of our women’s basketball student-athletes and program" and stating that "what occurred is not reflective of how our programs are expected to compete or represent Coastal Carolina University," per CBS station WBTW News 13.

In the wake of the fracas, South Alabama persevered, in part thanks to a career-high 22 points from redshirt sophomore guard Tamara Ortiz and 12 points off the bench from freshman forward Jeriyah Baines. 

The Jaguars were trailing by five points at halftime but rallied to outscore Texas State in the third quarter 25-8.

South Alabama, once 9-17 after a 10-game skid, has now won six straight games, including three in a row in the Sun Belt tournament, and will play fifth-seeded Marshall on Friday in fourth-round action.

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A federal judge is targeting a Nov. 2 trial date for the rigged poker ring case that features Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, former NBA guard and Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Damon Jones and 29 co-defendants, according to multiplereports Wednesday.

All 31 people charged by federal prosecutors in the case appeared for a status hearing inside the United States Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York.

Right now, there are too many defendants to try at once, according to ESPN's latest report about the case, which stems from an FBI gambling probe that unearthed a rigged poker ring backed by the Mafia last year.

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A dozen of those defendants are expected to receive plea offers soon, federal prosecutors said while also noting in the same legal filing that they've had "productive" discussion with lawyers for at least nine more people charged, indicating that they, too, could come to an agreement before a trial, per The Athletic.

The names of those defendants, however, reportedly weren't disclosed in the filing, so it's unclear if Billups and Jones are among that group.

Both of them have pleaded not guilty after being alleged to have helped legitimize the illegal poker games by luring unknowing players into the scheme.

The scam was reportedly aided by the use of secret cameras, contacts that could read marked cards, X-ray tables and other methods to cheat players out of money.

Billups has been on unpaid administrative leave from his position as the Portland Trail Blazers' head coach since his arrest. He was released on $5 million bail and has been living in Denver, according to ESPN.

On Tuesday, prosecutors submitted a brief, in which they said evidence includes more than 100,000 pages of financial records and telephone records, more than 800 pages of surveillance photographs and pole camera footage from a site of an alleged rigged poker game in Manhattan, per ESPN's report.

Additionally, the government has reportedly gathered gobs of electronic data from the defendants. The investigation hasn't stopped, and, according to The Athletic's report, a prosecutor said Wednesday that more evidence could ultimately lead to new defendants in the case.

Jones is also charged in a separate illegal gambling case uncovered by the FBI this past fall that's centered around the trading of non-public information about the health and availability of NBA players.

That case notably includes Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, who was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. He has pleaded not guilty as well.

Prior to a March 2023 game, in which he played only about 10 minutes for the Charlotte Hornets, Rozier is alleged to have shared inside information about his early exit, allegedly leading to his co-conspirator bettors wagering more than $200,000 on his under prop bets.

Rozier and Jones are among six defendants in that case.

Player availability reports have long been ingrained in professional sports and have recently become the expectation in college sports, including on the hardwood, where they're currently required in all five major conferences.

They're coming to the NCAA tournament for the first time this year, and the NCAA announced Wednesday that schools who don't file them will be fined.

"Player availability reports are intended in part to reduce betting-related pressure, solicitations and harassment student-athletes and other team personnel receive from bettors connected to playing status," according to the NCAA's release.

NCAA tournament teams will be mandated to submit initial reports by 9 p.m. local time the night before their games. Then within two hours of tip-off, all updates to those reports have to been in.

Players who have more than a 75% chance of playing are to be considered "available," whereas those who have up to a 75% chance of playing are to be labeled as "questionable." If a player will not play, they should be listed as "out," according to the NCAA.

Available players won't be listed with a designation.

For schools that don't adhere to that policy, they'll be fined up to $10,000 as first-time offenders. A second offense will result in them dealing with an institution penalty up to $25,000. 

Any third offenses will lead to the school at fault being hit with a fine as costly as $30,000. In that instance, its head coach will be fined as much as $10,000 as well, per the NCAA. Those same punishments will be administered for successive offenses thereafter.

Any penalties will be assessed following the completion of the men's and women's NCAA tournaments.

This is a trial run for the NCAA, in terms of imposing such a policy for its championships. In its release, the NCAA described the reporting system as a "pilot program" that will be evaluated but, in the meantime, won't be used for other NCAA championships this academic year.

All player availability reports will be public and accessible on the NCAA's website.

The Cincinnati Bengals aren't franchise tagging standout pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Tuesday.

This story is being updated.