Ex-Pima Supe Lee cited in melee at February UA-BYU basketball game

A former Pima County supervisor and ex-member of the Pima Community College board was cited on two counts of assault in connection with a University of Arizona basketball game in February that erupted into chaos in the closing seconds.

Sylvia M. Lee was also banned from all UA property until Feb. 24, 2026, according to the University of Arizona, and has been banned from all UA sporting events, though the university didn’t indicate for how long.

Brigham Young University upset the 19th-ranked Wildcats, 96-95, in a wild game Feb. 22, that ended after a controversial foul call gave the Cougars two free throws that clinched the win.

Fans, already on their feet and booing, lashed out while players from both teams had to be separated with tempers flaring. Some fans launched into a derogatory chant aimed at BYU players and the faith-based Mormon school. After negative national attention, Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois issued an apology, saying, “The chant is not reflective of who we are and should not have happened.”

According to a University of Arizona police report, Lee was in the McKale center stands that evening and threw a drink onto the court shortly after the game ended.

An officer saw the drink tossed but didn’t see who threw it. As he headed toward that area, a fan pointed out a woman in red who was headed up the stairs. Given the large crowd and that most fans were wearing red, the officer lost track of the woman, according to the report.

The officer returned courtside and discovered three employees had been hit with the contents of the cup and two agreed to pursue charges.

Lee was identified a day later based on video footage and her seat assignment at McKale. Her MVD license photo matched the person in the video, according to police.

When contacted by police two days after the game, Lee said she spilled her cup after slipping on popcorn and soda. She did not intentionally throw it, she said.

“She said everyone was pointing at her, so she ran out of there,” according to the police report.

Police told Lee that video did not back up her story. She agreed to come to the UA police station and was cited and released on two counts of assault/no injury. Lee also was issued an Exclusionary Order, which bars individuals from UA property for six months to a year. Lee’s order ends Feb. 24, 2026, and her photo and information is listed among 181 people with Exclusionary Orders on a UA website.

Lee gave a different account of that evening to the Green Valley News on Tuesday.

“One of the (BYU) players did an obscene gesture at the end of the game to my daughter and I threw the remnants of my ice at him and missed and hit the coach,” Lee said. She later added she wasn’t sure if it was a coach, but that somebody on the court was hit by “ice and melted ice.”

Lee, who has second-row season tickets, didn’t mention slipping nor did she explain why she didn’t tell police about the obscene gesture.

“I would never do it again but it was a spur of the moment reaction to this obscene gesture he was making to my daughter,” she said. “Frankly, I didn’t think it was a big deal but I guess you can’t do it, you’re not supposed to do it, and I get it, I get it.”

She said she sent a letter of apology to the athletic director of BYU.

No charges have been filed in the case, and the Tucson City Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to an email and phone call Tuesday asking about the status of the case. Lee told a reporter the case has been dismissed.

Lee was elected to the Pima Community College Governing Board in 2012, and served through 2018, including a stint as chair. She also worked as a PCC campus president and dean from 1996 to 2011, and has lent support to several groups and causes in Southern Arizona.

Lee, a Democrat, was appointed to the Pima County Board of Supervisors in December 2023, to finish the last year of Sharon Bronson’s term. Lee, among eight applicants for the position, did not run for the seat in 2024.