Dawn Staley fires back at Geno Auriemma
South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley gave a strong response on Tuesday night to comments recently made by UConn head coach Geno Auriemma.
During an 81-77 USC win on Sunday, Auriemma was rung up by the officiating crew for a technical foul after spiking a water bottle on the court.
Following the game, Auriemma called his technical “stupid” but noted he was upset with the defense being played on guard Lou Lopez Senechal.
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“It’s just appalling what teams do to her now. and it’s not basketball anymore,” he said. “I don’t like to see a kid get manhandled like that right in front of the officials.”
During an appearance on Carolina Calls on Tuesday night, Staley had her chance to respond.
“Here’s the thing. We’ve won several national championships playing the same way that we’re playing today. When you say it’s not basketball, when you say your player has bruises on her body, our entire post players, if we unclothed them, you would see the bruises,” she noted.
Staley continued: “I don’t like the narrative that, every time that we’re successful, we’re called something other than players who are locked in, that play hellified defense, that gives it up for the greater good of the game. They play it the right way, they approach it the right way, whether they win, whether they lose, we never denounce anybody’s play, we’re always uplifting the game of women’s basketball.”
Although South Carolina has found recent success against UConn, it was not always that way. Staley does not appreciate USC’s consistent style of play being mislabeled now that the tables have turned.
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“When we were getting our heads beaten in by UConn all those years, I said nothing,” Staley continued. “We play in the SEC. That’s how we play. We’re not going to change it, and you’re not going to write a narrative about how we play so the officials can change how they (call the game) in the NCAA tournament. I hope they rewrite that narrative to say this is the number one team in the country for as many weeks as it’s been this season. We’re going to continue to play and whether the officials change how they officiating our game, that’s on them.”
Dawn Staley contrasted Auriemma’s comments with how her program handles Aliyah Boston, who frequently faces double and triple teams and physical defense.
“I don’t complain, I don’t talk about what happens in the paint. She’s well equipped to handle it all and does it much nicer than I ever could have done it,” Staley said.
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“You know, we’ve been called so many things. I’m sick of it because I coach some of the best human beings the game has ever had. We’ve been called thugs, we’ve been called prisoners, we’ve been called monkeys,” Staley noted. “I’m, quite frankly, sick of it. Our players pick players up off the floor, they have sportsmanship, they have it all. We take this seriously, being the number one team in the country, being a team that young people look at and want to emulate. We set the example of how you do it and do it the right way. I’m not going to stand down when you’re going to denounce how we play because you’re denouncing our national championship, the product we put on the floor, denouncing families, our achievements. I’m not going to stand by and allow people to say that.”
