Dawn Staley Took Subtle Shot at Geno Auriemma After Blowout National Title Loss

A Final Four showdown between South Carolin and UConn turned ugly when Geno Auriemma appeared to call out Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley for standing him up for a pregame handshake.

Fast forward just two days later and Staley appeared to have a message for the Huskies coach.

Dawn Staley Speaks Out After National Title Loss

South Carolina suffered a blowout loss at the hands of the UCLA Bruins in the national title game on Saturday afternoon. The Bruins opened a 21-10 lead after the first quarter and never looked back en route to a 79-51 victory to give the program its first national title.

Immediately after the game Staley heaped additional praise on UCLA coach Cori Close, with an apparent subtle shot at Auriemma.

"Although we didn’t win, I can swallow it because we lost to a really good human being and a good team that represents women’s basketball well," Staley said.

Geno Auriemma Issues Apology to Dawn Staley

Auriemma eventually apologized for his behavior.

“There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina,” Auriemma said in a statement issued through the school. “It’s unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut. I want to apologize to the staff and the team at South Carolina.

“It was uncalled for in how I reacted. 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.”

When asked if she received a personal apology from Auriemma, Staley said she hasn't heard anything just yet.

"That’s a Geno question … I have not heard from Geno … it’s UCLA’s day. Let’s keep it there … We’re not gonna damper UCLA’s day with that," she said regarding an alleged message from the UConn coach.

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