Lawsuit accuses former Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball coach of psychological abuse toward players

Five former Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball players filed a federal lawsuit against former head coach Marisa Moseley on Friday, accusing her of psychological abuse that caused severe emotional distress.

Alexis Duckett, Krystyna Ellew, Mary Ferrito, Tara Stauffacher and Tessa Towers allege that Moseley "toyed with the mental health" of the players and interfered with their treatment by threatening to take away playing time and scholarships.

The lawsuit says that her actions violated their constitutional rights, and the players are seeking compensatory and punative damages.

The filing also names the Unversity of Wisconsin Board of Regents and former senior associate athletic director Justin Doherty as plaintiffs in the case.

The players say they reported the abuse to Doherty and the university, and they felt retaliated against for doing so.

Moseley cited personal reasons when she resigned after the end of last season.

Doherty announced his retirement in April.

The Wisconsin State Journal had previously reported on the players' allegations of abuse from Moseley, and that reporting was cited in the lawsuit filed Friday.

The allegations were first made public in a viral Tik Tok post by Towers back in January.

She claimed that Moseley made her sign a release form to grant the coach access to her therapy sessions or else Towers would be kicked off the team.

That threat of being removed from the team was used in multiple examples of the coach attempting to control her behavior, according to the accusations.

The program announced the hiring of new head coach Robin Pingeton in late March, who quickly got to work restocking the roster through the transfer portal.

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