Staley salutes UCLA title, deflects Auriemma question
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley deflected a question about her tense Final Four exchange with UConn's Geno Auriemma after her team's 79-51 loss to UCLA in the NCAA women's basketball championship on April 5, 2026, in Phoenix. Staley told reporters, "I don’t want – this is UCLA’s day, right? Let’s keep it UCLA, them winning the national championship. … We’re not going to damper UCLA’s day with it." The response highlighted her focus on UCLA's first program national title.
South Carolina had advanced to the title game for the third straight year after defeating UConn on Friday night. Post-victory, Staley and Auriemma drew attention for a midcourt interaction that went viral, following Auriemma's failure to shake her hand before tipoff. Staley later described it as disheartening but stressed concentration on the championship, saying, "For me, no distractions at this time. I'm concentrating on winning a national championship, that’s it."
Auriemma issued a statement Saturday apologizing for his postgame conduct: "There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina. 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." Staley responded that she had no idea why Auriemma reacted that way but added, "I don’t know what he came with after the game, but, hey, sometimes things get heated. We move on."
Before tipoff against UCLA, Staley shared a cordial hug and words with Bruins coach Cori Close, contrasting the UConn tension. A title win would have marked South Carolina's fourth national championship in the past decade. UCLA celebrated its historic victory at State Farm Stadium, known as the Mortgage Matchup Center for the event.
