As UConn season ends, Geno Auriemma, Dawn Staley have little to say about Final Four meltdown
PHOENIX – With less than a second left in UConn’s loss in the NCAA national semifinal game against South Carolina Friday night at Mortgage Matchup Center it seemed as though Huskies coach Geno Auriemma was ready to concede and call it a night. But as he approached South Carolina coach Dawn Staley , the clearly angry Auriemma said something that immediately got Staley’s attention. The exchange grew heated to the point that UConn assistant coach Jamelle Elliott had to get in the middle and steer Auriemma away.
Undeterred, Staley kept at Auriemma until she, too, was steered away by her assistants. Asked about the interaction after the game, a 62-48 loss which ended UConn’s unbeaten season, a 54-game win streak and hopes of back-to-back championships, Auriemma had little to say. “I just said what I had to say,” he said.
“Nothing. Nothing. ” Staley, in her postgame press conference, was no more forthcoming.
“You can ask Geno the question,” she said. “He’s the one that initiated the conversation. I don’t want what happened there to dampen what we were able to accomplish today.
” In a video that appeared on X after the game, Staley was shown shouting after the exchange, “I’m going to beat Geno’s (expletive). ” Auriemma appeared to be upset by the officiating in the game and the disparity in free throw shooting. UConn had six free throws in the game and made four.