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UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma regretted his action late in Friday’s Final Four game against South Carolina, where he and Dawn Staley got into a heated argument.
He began speaking to her aggressively, before the conversation degenerated and quickly turned into a visible shouting match. Auriemma said after the game that he was upset that Staley had apparently not shaken his hand before the game (the two were seen shaking hands before the game, but Auriemma said he waited several minutes before seeing Staley).
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UConn head coach Geno Auriemma watches a play late in the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament Sweet 16 game against North Carolina in Fort Worth, Texas, on March 27, 2026. (LM Otero/AP Photo)
“There is no excuse for how I handled the end of the game against South Carolina,” Auriemma said in a statement posted to social media.
“It’s different than what I do and our standard here in Connecticut. I want to apologize to the South Carolina staff and team. How I reacted wasn’t necessary. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that. I’ve had a great relationship with their staff and I sincerely want to apologize to them.”
Staley addressed the incident in an interview with ESPN immediately afterward.
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma reacts to a play during the first half of an NCAA college basketball tournament Sweet 16 game against North Carolina in Fort Worth, Texas, on March 27, 2026. (Julio Cortez/AP Photo)
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“I have no idea, but I’ll let you know this: I have integrity. I have integrity,” Staley said. “So if I did something bad 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 there before the game, shook hands with everyone on his staff. I don’t know what we came up with after the game, but hey, sometimes things get heated. We move on.”
Meanwhile, Auriemma expressed his displeasure with Staley and the referees during an in-game interview on ESPN.
“Their coach rants and raves on the sideline and calls the ref some names you don’t want to hear. And now we’re 6-0, and I’ve got a kid with a torn jersey, and they’re like, ‘I didn’t see that.’ Come on, man. It’s for a national championship,” he told Holly Rowe.
After the game, Auriemma declined to elaborate on the incident.
Dawn Staley of the South Carolina Gamecocks argues with Geno Auriemma of the UConn Huskies during the second half of an NCAA Women’s Final Four semifinal game at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on April 3, 2026. (Photos by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA via Getty Images)
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“I said what I had to say and…nothing…nothing,” he said when asked what happened to Staley, refusing to tell reporters what he said. “Why would I say it? I said what I said, and obviously she didn’t like it. I just told the truth.”
South Carolina ended UConn’s perfect season in what was a rematch of last year’s national championship the Huskies won. The loss ended UConn’s 54-game winning streak dating back to last season.
