The Women's Final Four drew headlines this weekend after a rift between coaches took a heated turn.
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At the end of a 62-48 win for the South Carolina Gamecocks on April 3, UConn coach Geno Auriemma had some opinions about the game's officials and opponent Dawn Staley.
Here's what happened.
What happened between Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley?
The two Final Four coaches could be seen in a shouting match on the sidelines April 3, just after sharing a brief handshake and Auriemma making some sort of comment to the Gamecocks coach, Philadelphia basketball legend Dawn Staley, caught by ESPN.
While it's unclear exactly what was said to prompt the exchange, which had to be broken up by assistant coaches and officials, Auriemma had criticized the refs and Staley in a sideline interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe.
Things got HEATED at the end of South Carolina-UConn as Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma exchanged words 😮pic.twitter.com/e0LCmWX9zy
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 4, 2026
Postgame, Auriemma admitted that he had felt disrespected pregame, after he said he waited at center court to shake hands.
“For 41 years I’ve been coaching, 25 Final Fours and before the game, the protocol is you meet at halfcourt," Auriemma said. "Anybody ever see that before? Two coaches meet at halfcourt and shake hands. Correct? Ever see it? They announce it on the loud speaker. And I waited there for like three minutes. (shrugs) So it is what it is.”
"I said what I said, and obviously she didn't like it," he added.
In an interview with Holly Rowe, Staley denied any disrespect, saying, "I have no idea, but I'm going to let you know this, I'm of integrity. 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 didn't know, I went down there pregame, shook everybody on his staff's hand, I don't know what we came with after the game, but hey sometimes things get heated. We move on," she said.
Did Geno apologize to Dawn Staley?
While the UConn head coach released a statement following the incident, Staley was not mentioned by name in the apology.
"There's no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina. It's unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut," Auriemma said.
"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," he concluded.
Staley's Gamecocks lost the national championship game to UCLA on Sunday, April 5.
Kaitlyn McCormick is a Philadelphia-based reporter writing all things trending, breaking and city-related for USA TODAY's Philadelphia Metro Connect Team.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma Final Four clash; What happened?