The South Carolina Gamecocks upset the Connecticut Huskies 62-48 in the 2026 Women’s Final Four on Friday evening in Phoenix. And while it’s an enormous win for South Carolina in taking down a Huskies team that entered the game unbeaten and as the NCAA Tournament favorite to reach the national title game, much of the talk exiting the game relates to the behavior of UConn head coach Geno Auriemma.
First, Auriemma sounded off in an interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe in the final minutes of the loss. Auriemma ranted about the officiating and how “[South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley] raves on the sideline, and calls the referees some names you don’t wanna hear.”
“There were six fouls called that quarter. All of ’em against us,” Auriemma said. “And they’ve been beating the sh*t out of our guys down there the entire game. Now, I’m not making excuses, because we haven’t been able to make a shot. But this is ridiculous. Their coach rants and raves on the sideline, and calls the referees some names you don’t wanna hear. And now, we get 6-0, and I’ve got a kid with a ripped jersey, and they go, ‘I didn’t see it.’ Come on, man! This is for the national championship!”
That was just the beginning of the drama.
Auriemma had to be held back in a heated exchange with Staley on the sideline as the clock was running out.
When the final buzzer officially sounded and the teams went into handshake lines, Auriemma headed off to the locker room. Staley was visibly frustrated while speaking with UConn assistants.
“And you can see Dawn Staley saying, ‘I would never do that. I would never do that to him,’ as Geno Auriemma walks back to the locker room alone,” ESPN’s Ryan Ruocco said.
After the game, Rowe asked Staley, “What went wrong on the sideline right now (with Auriemma)?
“I have no idea,” Staley responded. “But I’m going to let you know this: I’m of integrity. 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 didn’t know. 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.”
During the postgame show, ESPN showed video of a pregame interaction between Staley and Auriemma.
Auriemma spoke with the media after the game to offer clarity on the pregame situation.
“For 41 years, I’ve been coaching, and I’ve been to, I don’t know 25 Final Fours. And protocol is, before the game, you meet at half-court. Anybody ever see that before? Two coaches meet at half-court, and they shake hands. Correct? You ever see it? They announce it on the loudspeaker. And I waited there for like three minutes. So, it is what it is.”
So, this is certainly taking the South Carolina-UConn rivalry up a notch.
Auriemma is the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history with 12 national championships, including last season’s title. Staley is a three-time national champion at South Carolina, most recently in 2024.
It’s not the first time in recent days that Auriemma has been notably heated. He went off to the media in a lengthy rant about the NCAA Tournament double-regional setup last Friday.
Staley and South Carolina advance to Sunday’s national championship game, where they will face UCLA.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.