Stanford center Jayne Appel will be eligible to play in Sunday's game against USC, but not precisely for the reasons that have been reported by the media.
It had been reported that the Pac-10 office reviewed the play that caused Appel's ejection from Thursday's agam (an elbow thrown by Appel that caught UCLA's Jasimine Dixon in the face) and ruled that Appel would not be suspended.
In fact, the Pac-10 did not make any ruling because none was needed.
That's because Appel's foul was called a flagrant PERSONAL foul, not a flagrant TECHNICAL foul. A flagrant personal foul, which is excessive contact while the bal is live, is not subject to suspension and does not require a review by the conference office, so Appel was never in jeopardy of being suspended. The penalty is two free thows and an ejection, and that is all.
A flagrant technical foul involves unsportsmanlike conduct that is extreme in nature during play or excessive contact while the ball is not in play. Fighting is the best example. A player hit with a flagrant technical foul is subject to a suspension, depending on the ruling of the conference after a review.
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