Back in 2016, when their matchups were gradually growing in fanbase, UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma acknowledged his rival coach’s past. South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley was a successful women’s basketball player from high school, college, the WNBA and even at the national level representing Team USA.
With this, as the Gamecocks were slowly becoming a force in the college scene under the tutelage of Staley, Auriemma reflected on the hype she generated when she was still an up-and-coming player. Auriemma expounded on this during their Feb. 2016 interview with Mechelle Voepel of ESPN before their regular season game in that year.
“It’s like she was the original Mo’ne Davis. From the time Dawn was in seventh or eighth grade, that’s all anybody was talking about in girls’ basketball. She had a reputation that preceded her when she got to Virginia [in 1988], and she was part of their greatest successes as a team. People remember Dawn as a great college player and a great player for USA Basketball,” Auriemma said.
“Not many of those players that do that go on to have great success as a coach. So for her to get her team to the level they are now, it’s pretty amazing. I’m very proud and thrilled I’ve gotten a chance to work with her a little bit,” he added.
Currently in 2025, Auriemma and the Huskies recently defeated Staley and the Gamecocks in this year’s NCAA championship game by 23 points, 82-59, to win their first national title in nine years since clinching in 2016. The Gamecocks were looking to snag back-to-back national championships with their 2024 one.
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Geno Auriemma Was Reeling In One Of The First Of Many Matchups With Dawn Staley
Back in 2016, coach Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks were still seeking their first national championship as an up-and-coming program. So, whenever they used to match up against Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies before then, it wouldn’t be as big of a spectacle as it is now. But with the Gamecocks’ ascension, it quickly being a highly-anticipated matchup that Auriemma was all in on when it started to become big.
“It’s not even about winning and losing on Monday night, from a big-picture standpoint. It’s more the actual game itself, the idea that the No. 1 and 2 teams in the country are playing, and I hope that at the end of the game we can look back and say, ‘That was a hell of a show,'” he shared during the interview with ESPN.
The Huskies went on to win their Feb. 2016 matchup against the Gamecocks, 66-54, and bring home the 2016 NCAA title, which ended up becoming their last of their 2010’s four-peat and last before they won it again in 2025. For South Carolina, the program won their first of three national championships since then next year in 2017.
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