South Carolina’s stunning win over UConn marred by Dawn Staley-Geno Auriemma altercation
The Gamecocks' 62-48 win sent Staley to her fifth title game. The end was marred by Auriemma angrily confronting Staley over a perceived slight, after he'd criticized the refs all night.
PHOENIX — There were whispers here over the last few days that maybe South Carolina could beat Connecticut.
Maybe it would matter that they hadn’t yet played each other this season. Maybe Joyce Edwards and Madina Okot would play enough defense, and Edwards and Ta’Niya Latson would score a lot, and the Huskies would miss a few shots that they normally don’t, and so on.
Those whispers became a mighty roar on Friday night.
A ferocious defensive effort by the Gamecocks combined with stunningly poor shooting by the Huskies produced a 62-48 South Carolina win, ending UConn’s undefeated season at 38-0 and sending Dawn Staley to her fifth national championship game. The Gamecocks will play UCLA or Texas for the final on Sunday (3:30 p.m., 6abc).
It also produced fireworks between Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley. As the final seconds expired, Auriemma, who had been critical of the referees all night — including in a TV interview with ESPN after the third quarter — had some heated words with Staley in the handshake line. Staley took exception, and both head coaches’ assistants pulled their bosses away.
In an ESPN interview after the game, Staley said she had “no idea” what set him off.
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“But I’m going to let you know this: I’m of integrity,” she continued. “So if I did something wrong to Geno, I have no idea what I did. I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand at the beginning of the game. … But hey, sometimes things get heated. We move on.”
Asked about the incident in her postgame news conference, Staley took the high road.
“You can ask Geno the question,” she said. “I don’t want what happened there to dampen what happened today.”
Asked about Auriemma’s ESPN interview, she also said “that’s a Geno question.”
When Auriemma’s turn came in his postgame news conference, he said: “I said what I had to say and — nothing. Nothing.”
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Prior to that incident, the game was close throughout, starting with a 15-15 tie at the end of the first quarter. South Carolina led 21-16 with 6 minutes, 38 seconds until halftime — despite Raven Johnson sitting with two fouls from the 8:30 mark on.
But the Huskies turned their own defense up from there, and took a 26-24 lead into the locker room.
This was not a game for aesthetics, not least because South Carolina knew it couldn’t be. The Gamecocks’ best chance was to make it a defensive slugfest.
Auriemma knew it too, which is why he had his hands on his head just over four minutes into the third quarter. UConn was 13-for-36 from the field at that point, and just 1-for-11 from three-point range. It finished 6-for-21 from long range and 19-of-61 overall.
When Agot Makeer put South Carolina up 36-28 with 5:25 to go in the period, the eight-point margin was the biggest deficit the Huskies had faced all season.
That record fell a few minutes later, when the Gamecocks took a 40-30 lead. The ball kept refusing to go in for UConn, until Kayleigh Heckel’s three-pointer made it 40-33. Right on cue, that launched a 9-0 Huskies run, with Blanca Quiñonez and Azzi Fudd also connecting from long range.
It was 44-39 at the end of the third quarter, and it felt like anyone’s game. And when UConn got to within 46-44 with 6:37 left, it felt like the Huskies had momentum.
But then the lid shut on the basket again. Makeer hit a big three to put South Carolina up 51-44 with 5:53 to play, Latson made it 57-47 from the free throw line with 1:45 left, and one Sarah Strong three-pointer was UConn’s only made basket in a stretch of over five minutes.
Latson led all scorers with 16 points, while Makeer had 14. Strong led UConn with a mere 12, and Fudd was held to 3-of-15 shooting in her last college game.
At the final buzzer, the Huskies had been held under 50 points for the first time since the 2022 national championship game. Perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence that they lost that game to South Carolina.