On a rather rare occasion, UConn was under the pump. The Huskies and Geno Auriemma faced aggressive and physical basketball against South Carolina. Their best player, Sarah Strong, ended up with a torn jersey after the third quarter and Auriemma was furious.
In the final play of the third quarter, Sarah Strong drove to the baseline with two Gamecocks guarding her and missed the buzzer-beater through the traffic. But as she walked to the bench, Strong seemed to have torn her jersey and no foul was called. And that was the breaking point for Geno Auriemma.
“There were six fouls called that quarter, all of them against us,” Auriemma said. “They’ve been beating our guys down there the entire game. I’m not making excuses because we haven’t been able to make a shot, but this is ridiculous.”
He further went on to throw some shade at Dawn Staley, accusing her of using some unsuitable words with the referees. “Their coach rants and raves on the sideline and calls the referee some names you don’t want to hear,” Auriemma said. “And now we get 6-0 and I got a kid with a ripped jersey and they go, ‘I didn’t see it.’ Come on, man, this is for the national championship.”
“I’m not making excuses because we can’t make a shot. But this is ridiculous.”
Geno Auriemma had this to say on the officiating in the Final Four. pic.twitter.com/47cefDEj2O
— ESPN (@espn) April 4, 2026
That discontent spilled out at the end of the game as South Carolina closed out a straightforward 62-48 win. When the clock was winding down and only niceties remained, Auriemma apparently accused Staley of something. To which Staley vehemently defended herself. In a postgame interview, the South Carolina maintained that she did not know what offended Auriemma.
(This is a developing story…)
