Dawn Staley on Geno Auriemma Criticism About Play Style: ‘I’m Sick of It’

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley did not hold back in her response to the recent comments made by UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma following the Gamecocks’ 81–77 win against the Huskies on Sunday afternoon.

Auriemma, who has led a UConn team facing multiple injuries to star players and additional health adversities throughout the 2022 season, did not like the officiating in Sunday’s game, putting emphasis on missed calls regarding Huskies guard and forward Lou Lopez Senechal.

“It’s just appalling what teams do to her [Senechal] now,” Auriemma said. "It’s not basketball anymore. I don’t know what it is, but it’s not basketball.”

Auriemma feels the officials overlooked Senechal as well as “a lot of things” that he “couldn’t keep quiet any longer,” leading to his costly fourth-quarter technical foul. In response to his comments, Staley defended her program, saying that the Gamecocks play the game the way it is meant to be played.

“They play the right way and approach it the right way whether they win or lose,” Staley said in her call-in radio show on Tuesday. “We don’t denounce anybody’s play. 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.”

The Gamecocks’ win on Sunday marked the fourth win in the last five meetings against the Huskies which includes last year’s national championship victory. However, prior to South Carolina’s recent run, the Gamecocks were 0–7 against the Huskies.