Virginia Commonwealth University basketball standout Mo Alie-Cox faces a misdemeanor assault and battery charge stemming from an April 3 altercation involving a woman at a nightclub.

Alie-Cox is to appear in Richmond General District Court at 9 a.m. May 20.

According to court documents, Ashley Kaye Morgan filed a criminal complaint with authorities April 22, claiming that Alie-Cox punched her in the face at Society American Grill & Social Club, 1421 E. Cary St.

The incident occurred a few hours after former VCU Coach Shaka Smart announced he was leaving the Rams to become coach at the University of Texas.

Morgan said in her handwritten complaint that she became involved in a verbal dispute with another woman in the Shockoe Slip club. She wrote that the other woman pushed her and Morgan then “accidentally” grabbed the woman by the hair. It was then that she claims Alie-Cox intervened and punched her in the face.

VCU Athletic Director Ed McLaughlin says the school is monitoring the situation and will allow the legal process to run its course.

Alie-Cox, a rising junior majoring in criminal justice, averaged 7.5 points during the last season, helping the Rams to win the Atlantic-10 Tournament title and a NCAA Tournament berth.

Alie-Cox started all 36 games, averaging 25.9 minutes per contest.

Heavily recruited, Alie-Cox signed with VCU May 26, 2011, soon after the Rams’ advancement to the NCAA Final Four that year.

At VCU, Alie-Cox was ruled a “partial qualifier” academically by the NCAA and was not permitted to play or practice as a true freshman.

This is the second time in less than a year that a VCU basketball player has had a brush with the law. Briante Weber was charged with petit larceny last July after allegedly stealing an iPhone from a fellow student at a campus gym. The charge was dismissed in Richmond General District Court on the condition that Weber serve 50 hours of community service and make restitution.

At the time, VCU also suspended Weber from the Rams’ season opener against Tennessee in Annapolis, Md.