UConn’s Geno Auriemma assigns blame over a situation that never happened originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The UConn Huskies got outplayed in Friday’s Final Four matchup with the South Carolina Gamecocks.
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For a majority of the 40 minutes on the court, the battle of No. 1 seeds was close. But the main takeaway wasn’t how Dawn Staley’s team put together a solid 62-48 win, it was Geno Auriemma’s actions as the game ended.
The UConn coach became increasingly upset for South Carolina’s physical play, and he let it be known to start the fourth quarter during an interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe.
“There were six fouls called in that quarter, all of them against us,” Auriemma told Rowe. “And they’ve been beating the s— out of our guys down there the entire game. And I’m not making excuses because we haven’t been able to make a shot. But this is ridiculous.”
Auriemma also accused South Carolina of ripping Sarah Strong’s jersey. However, the incident never happened how he said it did. In fact, Strong shredded her own threads and the entire meltdown was caught by ESPN cameras.
Strong had to change into a No. 55 jersey after her No. 21 was torn. She later called it an accident. Not only was Auriemma’s assessment wrong, he went after Staley thinking the Gamecocks were “beating up” his players. In reality, South Carolina was the better team and deserved the right to play for a title.
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This certainly wasn’t UConn’s shining moment and they head into the offseason and suffering a historic defeat. UConn was held below 50 points in any game since the 2022 National Championship Game against South Carolina.
