Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley speak out after tense sideline moment after South Carolina’s 62-48 Final Four victory over UConn.
The exchange occurred during the final handshake with 0.1 seconds left on the clock, as Auriemma’s words off camera view seemingly made Staley upset. She was seen saying some words while coaching staff tried to hold her back.
No update on what was said, but both coaches spoke to the media after the game.
During the postgame interview, Staley said she was unaware of any issue that led to Auriemma’s frustration.
When asked about the sideline tension, she said, “You can ask Geno the question. He’s the one that initiated the conversation. I don’t want what happened there to dampen what we were able to accomplish today,” Staley stated while describing the team’s game action that resulted in a win and reflecting on the win compared to last year’s lost against the Huskies.
“But let you know this. I’m of integrity. So if I did something wrong to Geno, I had no idea what I did…..I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand at the beginning of the game. I went down there pregame, shook everybody on his staff’s hand. I don’t know what he came with after the game, but hey, sometimes things get heated. We move on.”
Meanwhile, Auriemma called the sideline tension “nothing.”
He nonchalantly said it was nothing and he just had to say what he had to say.
Tense sideline moment between Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley; Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images and Getty Images
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Auriemma aired out his frustration to a news reporter about the officiating.
“There were six fouls called that quarter, all of them against us. And they’ve been beating the shit out of our guys down there the entire game. And I’m not making excuses for us, we haven’t been able to make a shot, but this is ridiculous,” Auriemma said.
“Their coach rants and raves on the sideline and calls the referee some names you don’t want to hear, and now we get six to zero and I got a kid with a ripped jersey and (the referees) go ‘I didn’t see it.’ C’mon, man. This is for the national championship,” he added.
Despite the heated finish, the Gamecocks move on to the national championship to take on UCLA.
