PHOENIX — South Carolina and UConn battled for 40 minutes. Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd tried to will their Huskies to another national title game. Agot Makeer and Ta’Niya Latson played with intense desperation, trying to get to their first. It was competition at its finest. And then it disintegrated.
Between the third and fourth quarters, Geno Auriemma gave a ferocious interview to ESPN’s Holly Rowe, berating the officials for not calling fouls against South Carolina.
“There were six fouls called that quarter, all of them against us,” he said. “And they’ve been beating the **** out of our guys down there all game. And I’m not making excuses, because we haven’t knocked down shots, but this is ridiculous. Their coach rants and raves on the sidelines and calls the referees some names that you don’t want to hear. And now we get six to zero, and I got a kid with a ripped jersey and they (the officials) go, ‘I didn’t see it.’”
But as video evidence and Sarah Strong herself, the player with the ripped jersey, proved, there was nothing to see.
Strong grabbed the top of her jersey with two hands, ripping it down the middle. As the “2” and the “1” of her 21 separated, no superman shirt was revealed. Instead, frustration appeared.
“It was an accident,” Strong said. “I missed my shot and ripped the jersey.”
Strong has been doing her best superhero impression all season. Off the court, she’s Clark Kent, calm, collected, under the radar. On it, Superman, capable of anything and everything, from feats of strength to otherworldly scoring efforts.
But in that moment, with the pressure mounting, her team trailing for the first time all season, Strong was like you and me: Human. We are used to seeing Strong in control, but in that moment, frustrated by officiating and the trajectory of the game, Strong’s emotions got the best of her.
So did Auriemma’s. First, there was the interview with Rowe. Then, as the clock ticked down, Auriemma approached Dawn Staley, getting in her face before assistant coaches separated them.
In her own interview with Rowe, Staley said she was confused by the outburst.
“I’m of integrity,” she said. “So if I did something wrong to Geno, I have no idea what I did. I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand before the game. I went down there, pregame, and shook everybody on his staff’s hand. I don’t know what he came with after the game, but sometimes things get heated. We move on.”
Her Gamecocks are moving on. They will play in the national title game after a 64-48 win over the Huskies.
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The Gamecocks have a way of finding weaknesses where there usually are none, of exposing humanity, of winning when the odds are against them. UConn came into Friday’s Final Four matchup as the undefeated defending champions. But South Carolina handled the narrative. The Gamecocks brought SEC toughness and didn’t break. Not when UConn hit three straight three-pointers to cut a 10-point lead down to one. Not when Joyce Edwards was whistled for three consecutive fouls to start the fourth quarter. And not when Auriemma came at Staley. She held her ground, just like her Gamecocks did.
Nothing could stop South Carolina, not even the postgame melee, something Staley addressed in her team’s winning press conference.
“I don’t want what happened there to dampen what we were able to accomplish today,” Staley said.
That point was discussed by analysts and former players Andraya Carter (Tennessee) and Chiney Ogwumike (Stanford) on the TV broadcast.
“I say this respecting the fact that Geno is the winningest coach in college basketball history,” Ogwumike said. “His behavior does not sit well. I actually find it quite problematic. If you followed the game, he insinuated that South Carolina tore Sarah Strong’s jersey. We found out that it was more so self-inflicted and was not the Gamecocks.”
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Even after Strong addressed what happened in the press conference, Auriemma doubled down.
“She said it was a mistake,” Auriemma said. “She didn’t say she ripped her own jersey. I’m just saying there was not a single foul called on them in the third quarter. I have a kid that’s one of the best players in the country and has got the ball a lot and is trying to get something done, and you mean to tell me there was never a time when she got fouled? Find that hard to believe.”
Auriemma also had a retort for Staley’s statement about shaking hands with the entire staff before the game. Auriemma stated he was upset that when starting lineups and coaches were announced, she didn’t meet him on the court for a handshake.
“The protocol is before the game you meet at halfcourt,” Auriemma said. “Two coaches meet at halfcourt and they shake hands, correct? Ever see it? They announce it on the loudspeaker. I waited there for like three minutes. So it is what it is.”
Carter spoke to Auriemma’s behavior, expressing her frustration that the story was now about him and not the Gamecocks.
“It was all handled so poorly on Geno’s part, shockingly so,” she said. “Because it’s so out of line, it almost feels like it was on purpose. Because the fact is his players got outplayed the entire game. South Carolina’s players played better. But what are we talking about? Geno Auriemma against Dawn Staley. We are taking attention off a game where South Carolina dominated, to talk about Geno’s behavior.”
On the court, South Carolina executed its gameplan to perfection.
The Huskies typically make 40 percent of their three-point attempts, with Fudd leading the way at 46 percent and Strong following close behind at 40 percent. But against South Carolina, UConn made just six of 19 long-range attempts (29 percent).
“We made it really difficult for them to get clean looks,” Staley said. “We made them put the ball on the floor. That’s disruption to UConn, because they’re a passing team, they like to assist.”
The Gamecocks were able to limit Strong to 12 points and Fudd to eight. Ashlynn Shade was her team’s second-leading scorer with 10 points.
Offensively, the Gamecocks, who have been to five straight Final Fours, relied on two newbies. Latson played her first three seasons at Florida State, never making a deep tournament run. In her first Final Four, the senior guard had 16 points and 11 rebounds. She was also a perfect 10 of 10 at the free throw line.
Freshman guard Makeer came off the bench to contribute 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
“I think I don’t really have that freshman title anymore,” she said. “We’re so far into the season. You just have to be ready to play. I think going into Sunday, my mindset is still the same. I’m going to come like that.”
Chaos took the spotlight after South Carolina’s win over UConn, but on Sunday, the Gamecocks can take it right back, as they play for the program’s fourth national championship.
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