In 2018, Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies took on the South Carolina Gamecocks and lost 81-77 in a closely contested and highly emotional game. He got a technical foul for berating the referees after one of his players was bruised by one of the South Carolina players.
During the post-game press conference, the coaching legend voiced his frustrations about the game, from his players getting hurt to the technical foul itself. He was talking about Lopez Sénéchal, who was found to have bruises after the physical contest.
“Yeah the technical is stupid. If you want to bring Lou in and you can see the bruises on her body, it’s just appalling,” he said. “And it’s not not basketball anymore. I’m like I don’t like to see a kid get manhandled like that, you know, right in front of the officials.”
A technical foul was called on Geno Auriemma after he slammed a water bottle onto the court in frustration after he felt that the referees were not calling a foul as one of his players was getting manhandled by the Gamecocks. He admitted that slamming the water bottle down the floor was a “dumb mistake” but added that the officials still should have made some calls against the South Carolina players.
Auriemma also took offense to another non-call from the referees during a hand-off inbound pass late in the game. His assistant coaches were seen trying to hold him back from the referees.
It was a highly physical game that saw three players fouling out. Lopez Sénéchal and Nika Muhl fouled out for Auriemma’s UConn, while center Kamilla Cardoso was fouled out of the game for Auriemma’s UConn. Dawn Staley‘s South Carolina committed a total of 23 fouls that game, while UConn was called for 21.
Dawn Staley Clapped Back at Geno Auriemma After Complaining About the Referees
As for South Carolina, their head coach, Dawn Staley, clapped back at Geno Auriemma after he made those comments. She also expressed frustration, though aimed at Auriemma for invalidating what her team has done during that game.
“They play the right way and approach it the right way whether they win or lose. We don’t denounce anybody’s play. They are always uplifting the game of women’s basketball, and when we were getting our heads beat in by UConn for all those years, I said nothing,” she said.
Neither UConn nor South Carolina won the NCAA title that year, with LSU winning it all after beating Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the national championship game.
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