Dawn Staley talks about her heated battle with Geno Auriemma and defeating Collegiate Con in the Final Four
USA TODAY Sports’ Megan Hall asked Dawn Staley about her postgame exchange with Geno Auriemma and how her team destroyed the University in the Final Four.
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The heated battle between UConn and South Carolina in the Final Four spilled out onto the sidelines of Phoenix’s Mortgage Matchup Center.
Minutes after Huskies coach Geno Auriemma criticized game officials and Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley for what he blamed on a foul, the two coaches got into a heated confrontation in the final moments of South Carolina’s 62-48 victory.
ESPN cameras captured the two briefly shaking hands before Auriemma made comments to Staley. This sparked a brief, heated exchange between the two players, which required assistant coaches and officials to get between the two women’s basketball powerhouses.
Immediately after the University of South Carolina’s Final Four victory, Auriemma was caught on camera heading to the UW’s locker room instead of getting back in line to shake hands with the University of South Carolina coaches and players.
Speaking to ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the game, Staley said he had no idea what prompted Auriemma’s verbal abuse towards him.
“I don’t know, but I’ll tell you this: I’m honest. I’m honest,” Staley said. “So if I did something wrong with Geno, I had no idea what I did. He probably thought I didn’t shake his hand at the start of the game. I had no idea. I went there before the game and shook everyone’s hands on his staff. After the game, I don’t know what we did, but sometimes things get heated. We move on.”
ESPN cameras showed the two coaches briefly meeting before the game, and Staley was seen hugging Auriemma and several members of the UW women’s basketball team.
“You can ask Geno a question,” Staley said when asked about the incident in the postgame press conference. “He started it. I don’t want what happened there to take away from what we were able to accomplish today.”
When asked in the postgame press conference, Auriemma initially didn’t provide much context about the exchange: “Nothing…I said what I needed to say. Nothing, nothing.”
When questioned again later, he said he felt disrespected before the game.
“I’ve coached for 41 years, been to the Final Four 25 times, and we always meet at half court before games,” Auriemma said. “Have you ever seen this? Two coaches meet at half court and shake hands. Right? Have you ever seen that? They announce it on the loudspeaker, and I wait there for about three minutes. (Shrugs) That’s what it is.”
“I said what I said and obviously she didn’t like it,” he added.
Early in the fourth quarter, Auriemma lashed out at referees, especially Staley, after his team was called for six fouls. His rant came after one of his best players, Sarah Strong, suffered an injury tearing her jersey on a last-second layup attempt before the end of the quarter.
“There were six fouls in that quarter, all of which were our fault,” Auriemma told Lowe. “And they’ve been beating our guys the whole game. I’m not going to make excuses now, because we didn’t make shots. But this is ridiculous. Their coach is yelling profanities on the sideline and saying bad things to the referees that you don’t want to hear. … Hey, hey, this is for a national championship.”
Either way, Staley said she won’t let the conflict between her and Auriemma get in the way of her players’ performance.
“I’m so proud of our kids,” Staley said. “I’m not going to let anything that happens take away from my performance on the floor.”
During the second Final Four semifinal broadcast between UCLA and Texas, ESPN’s Ryan Ruocco and former Union University star Rebecca Lobo discussed Staley and Auriemma’s exchange and postgame comments.
Ruocco: “Maybe it’s the moment he wants to go back to. According to the comments from the podium, he doesn’t feel that way yet.”
Lobo: “Geno Auriemma, this is his 25th Final Four. He’s gone 13 times without a championship and lost in class every time since then. And it’s frustrating to see what happened at the end of that game.”
