UConn had no idea what they were getting into against South Carolina. In a final four game, the Gamecocks did not let Geno Auriemma’s side play the way they usually do. Dawn Staley’s side had a different intensity about them as their physicality completely stifled Sarah Strong and Co. Ultimately, the Gamecocks secured a comfortable 62-48 victory, with tensions escalating between the coaches by the end of the game.
As the game clock was ticking down, Staley and Auriemma went at it. Auriemma confronted Staley as she was about to shake his hand. Whatever Auriemma said, Staley was surely not happy with it as the coaches exchanged aggressive words. Before things went up another notch, the referees and the rest of the support staff separated them.
“I would never do that,” the broadcaster interpreted Staley as saying. Auriemma walked back to the locker room without the post-game handshake with the Gamecocks team while Staley stayed. After the atmosphere had cooled down, Staley revealed that she had no idea why Geno Auriemma was furious.
“If I did something wrong to Geno, I had no idea what I did,” Staley said on the ESPN broadcast. “I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand at the beginning of the game. I didn’t know. I went down there pregame and shook everybody on his staff’s hand. I don’t know what he came with after the game, but sometimes things get heated. We move on.”
Dawn Staley on the exchange pic.twitter.com/4nxW0pUIQs
— Jay (@Jayy_Hardyy252) April 4, 2026
(This is a developing story…)
