PHOENIX – Geno Auriemma fouled out as the final seconds expired in Friday’s national semifinal, as UConn’s previously undefeated season ended with a 62-48 loss. As he approached South Carolina coach Don Staley for a handshake after the game, Auriemma let out an angry volley of words and pointed his index finger at the floor.
Staley was stunned for a moment, before the two began barking at each other and separated. As soon as Auriemma finished shaking hands with some South Carolina assistants, Staley doubled down to continue the fight, yelling and charging toward the Huskies coach before members of his staff blocked his path and rounded him up at the scorer’s table. She continued yelling toward the UConn bench before walking toward her own bench.
“I’m going to kick Geno’s ass,” Staley can be heard saying twice.
After the game, Auriemma said that there was no relationship between the two coaches, and he simply described them as rivals.
“No, not really,” Auriemma said. “We don’t have much in common.”
Emotions ran high for Auriemma during the women’s Final Four semifinal. During an interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe going into the fourth quarter, he lamented the lack of fouls against South Carolina and said that Staley “cussed and raved” at the officials and “called the referees some names you don’t want to hear.” UConn finished with 17 fouls, compared to eight against South Carolina.
“They’ve been beating our guys the whole game,” Auriemma said. “I’m not making any excuses because we couldn’t make any shots. But it’s ridiculous.”
UConn star Sarah Strong had to wear her No. 55 jersey after her No. 21 was torn, and Auriemma questioned how there was not a single foul in the third quarter against South Carolina. One angle of the video shows Strong tearing his jersey, but it is unclear whether it was torn in any way to begin with. He called it an accident.
“I just want to make sure there’s no double standards,” Auriemma said of Staley’s sideline behavior. “My opinion is that if I ever talked to an officer that way, I would be harassed. So I just want to make sure there’s not a double standard, that some people are allowed to talk to officers that way and other people aren’t. That’s all.”
“So yes, I was very disappointed.”
Staley declined to address the incident or Auriemma’s allegations during a news conference after the South Carolina game.
“You can ask Geno questions,” Staley said. “He was the one who started the conversation. I don’t want what happened there to take away from what we accomplished today.”
There seemed to be frustration before the game as Auriemma said he waited for the traditional pregame handshake for three minutes. He said he had no regrets about what he said in the broadcast interview.
“Why would I? Why would I?” Auriemma said. “I’ve been coaching a long time. I’ve never had a kid change his jersey because someone tore it and the official said, ‘I didn’t see it.’ A lot of things happened in that game. Unless you are on that shore, you have no idea what is happening on this shore.
“I’ve been coaching for 41 years and, I don’t know, 25 Final Fours. The protocol is before the game you meet at half court. Has anyone seen it before? Two coaches meet at half court and they shake hands, right? … I waited there for about three minutes. So it is what it is.”
Despite pointing out the inaccurate discrepancy and the end-of-quarter comments, Auriemma said he had no problem with the physicality of the game. He said the physicality goes both ways and the Huskies “were not aggressive enough to compete on the offensive end.”
Staley was an assistant coach under Auriemma on the U.S. Olympic team at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He credited the way he has built his program into a three-time national champion, reaching the title game in four of the last five tournaments and advancing to the last six Final Fours.
Auriemma said he has “immense respect” for Staley.
