This will be a bit different as the subject for this post will be the fireworks that erupted at the conclusion of the UConn/South Carolina women’s semifinal game in March Madness. UConn, which was undefeated coming into the game, lost to South Carolina 62-48.
Geno Auriemma, the NCAA’s winningest basketball coach ever, erupted following the end of the third quarter on live TV.
Geno Auriemma was not happy with the officiating in the third quarter 😳
“Their coach rants and raves on the sidelines and calls the referees some names you don’t want to hear …”pic.twitter.com/AOX5KxgY44
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 4, 2026
MSN.COM called Auriemma bemused. Does this sound like Auriemma was bemused?
Holly Rowe asked about Sarah Strong’s ripped jersey. Auriemma, “…They’ve been beating the (expletive) out of our guys down there the entire game… And now we get six-to-zero, and I got a kid with a ripped jersey. Come on man.” Certainly sounds like Geno was blaming the officials for missing a foul when the jersey got ripped. However, video replay showed that Strong actually ripped her own jersey. Perhaps that was from the frustration of shooting poorly (4 for 16).
At the end of the game, as the clock wound down, Dawn Staley, the South Carolina coach and Geno Auriemma approached each other at half court to shake hands. Auriemma said something to Staley that set her off.
Apparently Auriemma was pissed about some pre-game handshake protocol that Staley had not followed. According to Geno, Staley did not shake his hand before the game as protocol required. Video shows that Staley did shake his hand as well as the hand of every other member of the UConn coaching staff. When challenged on this, Auriemma said that he had to wait for Staley.
The two had to be separated so that the game could be finished. When the game ended, Auriemma left without shaking the hand of anyone else as is the protocol for any college game. Hypocritical?
This leads to some obvious questions. Did Auriemma carry this anger of the pre-game protocol throughout the game? It would certainly seem so if he insults Staley at the end of the game about it. How did this affect his coaching throughout the game? Was he harboring thoughts about how he would address this at the end of the game? If so, then he failed his players because he did not give the game his full attention.
UConn was heavily favored to win the national championship. Of their 38 wins this season, only one had been by single digits. That was a three-point win over Michigan back in November. Their closest game in the tournament was by 18 over Notre Dame. How come they played the way they did in this game?
South Carolina shut down UConn’s two best offensive threats. Their defense was suffocating. This was the lowest total by far for this UConn team. This was a master class in coaching by Dawn Staley.
This leads to another question. Were Auriemma’s actions at the end of the game designed to distract from the horrible performance by his team? (19 for 61 from the floor). Under normal circumstances, the analysis after such a game would have focused what South Carolina accomplished. It wasn’t because of Auriemma’s actions.
Did Auriemma think that UConn was destined to win the national championship, to just waltz in and take it? Only two games in January and February were won by less than 30+ points.
Auriemma’s actions at the end of this game reflect poorly on UConn. They look like the actions of someone who could not accept that the other team played better they did on this night. I always thought Auriemma was classier than the way he acted in this game.