Geno Auriemma clarified his comments Wednesday on the physical play in UConn’s 81-77 loss to No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday.
The UConn coach had criticized the refereeing after the game, saying “what teams do” to Lou Lopez Sénéchal is “appalling” and “not basketball anymore.” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley took issue with Auriemma’s characterization of her team’s defense on her call-in radio show Tuesday.
“They play the right way and approach it the right way whether they win or lose,” Staley said of her players. “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.”
“We’ve been called so many things and I’m sick of it,” Staley added. “I’m sick of it because I coach some of the best human beings the game has ever had.”
After UConn’s 59-52 defeat to Marquette on Wednesday night — marking the Huskies’ first consecutive losses since 1993 — Auriemma said his comments had been directed at the referees, not Staley’s team.
“I don’t know whether Dawn was referring to me specifically or whether this has been happening to her team for quite some time…
Geno has done a lot of things over the years that many people did not like. That’s the truth and documented… maybe it’s time he retired!