No Charges for UC Riverside Women

The Riverside County District Attorney’s office will not prosecute members of the UC Riverside women’s basketball team in connection with a fight on March 8.

“The problem was that there was a fair amount of conflicting information given,” said Tim Searight of the district attorney’s office. Searight said the decision was made last week.

Former Riverside players Jennifer Newsome, 22, and Monica Vargas, 21, were engaged in a scuffle with several team members at a restaurant near the school. Vargas sustained a concussion as a result of the altercation and filed charges against team member Tawanna Terry.

Newsome and Vargas both left the program in the past year after disputes with teammates and Coach Debi Woelke.

The Riverside program was the subject of a Times story in October in which several players, particularly Newsome and Vargas, criticized Woelke and the program. Athletic Director John Masi investigated the complaints and took no action.