Geno Auriemma Sends Clear Message to Dawn Staley Ahead of National Championship!

The Final Four at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Friday night was dominated by the South Carolina Gamecocks, who defeated Texas 74-57, followed by the Connecticut Huskies’ 85-51 victory over the UCLA Bruins.

This set up an intriguing matchup for the national championship on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET.

Both South Carolina and UConn are led by two of the greatest coaches in basketball history—Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma.

While Auriemma boasts an impressive 11 national titles, his last came in 2016, and since then, Staley has led the Gamecocks to three championships.

Now, they’ll face off for the chance to either continue South Carolina’s recent dominance in an attempt at back-to-back titles or for Auriemma to add yet another remarkable achievement to his legendary resume.

Ahead of the showdown, Auriemma sent a clear message to Staley when asked about South Carolina’s success under her leadership.

“When you think about the Final Fours they’ve been to, the consistency in their program, the ability to win national championships multiple times… these are all things that are incredibly difficult to sustain,” Auriemma said.

“We’ve certainly played each other a number of times in big, big games… so it does feel like the two most prominent programs right now in women’s college basketball. We both deserve it. They have every right to win Sunday, we have every right to win Sunday.

The fact that we have Philadelphia connections, University of Virginia ties, and all that USA basketball history that we’ve done together—yeah, it’s a nice story, but I don’t think Dawn’s gonna give me any kudos or breaks for the senior citizen that I am. I don’t think she’s gonna have any sympathy for me come Sunday.”

Dawn Staley served as an assistant coach under Geno Auriemma on the 2016 Team USA women’s Olympic team in Rio, where they captured their sixth gold medal.

The two teams met earlier this season, and it was UConn who came out on top with an 87-58 victory, thanks to a 22-point performance from star freshman Sarah Strong.

However, since that game, South Carolina has been on an unstoppable run, remaining undefeated and losing only three games all season.

UConn, too, has suffered three losses this season.

Now, with both teams being the hottest in the sport, they’ll meet on a neutral court for the ultimate prize—the chance to cement their legacy in women’s college basketball history, something both Auriemma and Staley are intimately familiar with.