Watch: Geno Auriemma confronts Dawn Staley on sideline after UConn’s Final Four loss
South Carolina defeated UConn 62-48 to reach the national championship game Friday, but the postgame handshake line was marred by a testy exchange between the team’s head coaches.
USC’s Dawn Staley and UConn’s Geno Auriemma got heated as the game ended, with assistant coaches having to separate the two and Auriemma leaving the handshake line altogether and going to the locker room.
Staley appeared to say, “I would never do that,” after Auriemma confronted her.
Asked in a postgame ESPN interview what happened, Staley said: “I have no idea. 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 and shook everybody’s hand pregame.”
Staley continued: “I don’t know what he came with after the game. Sometimes things get heated and we move on.”
A quarter earlier, Auriemma, 72, went off on the referees and Staley in an on-air interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe.
“There were six fouls called that quarter, all of them against us,” the UConn coach said. “They’ve been beating the sh*t out of our guys the entire game. I’m not making excuses because we haven’t been able to make a shot. ... Their coach rants and raves on the sidelines and calls the referees some names you don’t want to hear.”
Staley declined to elaborate on the exchange postgame, while Auriemma hinted his frustration stemmed from how Staley approached a pregame coaches’ meeting/handshake line. It’s unclear what his frustration was, though, as there were social media pictures and videos of the coaches shaking hands.
What happened in Staley-Auriemma confrontation?
After trailing at halftime, South Carolina outscored UConn 38-24 in the second half and 18-9 in the fourth quarter. USC had the ball and was running out the clock, but there was a slight differential between the game and shot clock, meaning UConn had to inbound with 0.8 seconds left.
Before that could happen, though, Auriemma and Staley started walking toward each other for a postgame handshake, which is customary for coaches when there’s still a slight amount of time remaining in an already-decided game.
But Auriemma immediately confronted Staley, prompting members of both staffs to surround them and separate the coaches as Auriemma pointed toward Staley and Staley reacted with surprise and confusion.
Auriemma wound up leaving the floor without participating in the full handshake line, while Huskies assistant coaches Jamelle Elliott and Tonya Cardoza (a former teammate of Staley’s at Virginia) both spoke with Staley postgame.
Staley was cordial with both coaches and wound up hugging and congratulating them while reiterating she “never” would snub Auriemma, a 12-time national champion who she’s played and/or coached against since the 1990s.
Sideline video captured by ESPN’s Kareem Copeland showed a visibly emotional and upset Staley telling her South Carolina assistant coaches and staff: “I will beat Geno’s a**. I will beat Geno’s a**. ... I will beat his a**.”
Previous conflict between Staley, Auriemma
Although Auriemma and Staley spoke glowingly of each other in Thursday’s pregame media sessions, this isn’t the first time they’ve had a public conflict.
During the 2022-23 season, South Carolina beat UConn on the road in an intense 81-77 game. Auriemma complained postgame about the Gamecocks’ play style and said it was “appalling” how teams defended his top post players.
Staley responded days later on her radio show, saying she was “sick” of narratives surrounding USC’s physicality and that they were harmful to the program.
She also said she hadn’t heard from Auriemma and didn’t plan to.
“I just don’t like narratives that could hurt us in the future,” Staley said. “If it was just a one-off, and I thought it was the end of it ... but I just don’t think it’s the end of it. I think if we have to play them again, that’s out there.”
South Carolina and UConn’s more recent meetings, including last year’s national title game in Tampa, Florida, were cordial. That took a turn Friday and prompted multiple moments that went viral during a nationally televised game.
Staley appeared on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” with Scott Van Pelt later Friday and was asked once again about the exchange with Auriemma.
“I don’t know if I broke a rule,” Staley said. “Geno’s the best person to ask. He could enlighten all of us.”
Auriemma said later Friday he and Staley don’t have much of a relationship despite the fact they were both coaches for the U.S. women’s national team.
“No, not really,” he said. “We don’t have a lot in common. ... We’ve been coaching against each other for a long, long time, and I have tremendous respect for what she’s done at South Carolina.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2026 at 9:21 PM with the headline "Watch: Geno Auriemma confronts Dawn Staley on sideline after UConn’s Final Four loss."
