Tempers flare between Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley as UConn’s undefeated season comes to an end

PHOENIX — South Carolina defeated UConn 62-48 in the first semifinal game of Friday night in Phoenix, Arizona to advance to Sunday’s national championship game.

In what was a close game for majority of play, with tough defense and aggressive play, the game ended with two legendary women’s basketball coaches getting into what looked like an argument as the game was concluding. As the final seconds were winding down, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma and South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley seemed to get into a heated debate.

These two teams are familiar with each other, as both faced off in last year’s National Championship game when UConn came out on top.

In an interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe at the end of the third quartr, Auriemma expressed his frustration with the lack of foul calls against the Gamecocks.

After the game, Rowe interviewed Staley on the court after the game:

In the postgame press conference after the game, Staley was asked by media to “shed light on the conversation with Geno after the game.”

“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 said. “The difference is, I mean, experience. I think losses, when you have losses that hurt, but you really understand the why, I think UConn was a really well-oiled machine. If you didn’t have disruption and consistent disruption, you allow them to play as freely as they want to play and shoot as freely as they shoot, they’re very efficient and very, very good. Our whole objective was to get them to shoot as inefficiently as possible, make them put the ball on the floor. Don’t give them as many catch-and-shoot opportunities. I thought our kids really locked into that.”

South Carolina’s defensive power 

Led by SEC Defensive Player of the Year Raven Johnson, the Gamecocks put up a solid defensive performance vs. the Huskies. Having to go up against not one, but two Player of the Year finalists in Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd, South Carolina was prepared for the star power. 

Both Johnson, along with sophomore Joyce Edwards at various times had the defensive assignments of Strong and Fudd. Strong, who usually averages 18.6 points a game, was held to 12 points and Fudd had just 8 points, scoring under double digit figures for only the fourth time this season.

Another new freshman standout 

Freshman Agot Makeer made a statement in Friday’s semifinals game as she was second in scoring for South Carolina with 14 points, behind Ta’Niya Latson’s 16 points. In South Carolina’s Elite Eight game vs. TCU, Makeer posted a season high of 18 points. Makeer’s ability to run up and down the court was on display in Phoenix, as she finished the game with four rebounds, one steal and two assists. South Carolina has been known to have freshmen step up late in the season. Back in 2024, it was Tessa Johnson who earned honors on the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team with 14.0 points per game on 58.8 percent shooting (10-of-17) in the final weekend of the season.