<\/p>\nAdd Preferred Source<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
\u201cBut the true test is how you handle yourself in this moment, the way they were in the locker room, how they handled that moment. I want always for our team to be able to handle both moments the exact same way. No one’s won as much as we have. So, when you are part of that, you have to be gracious in your losing. I never want it to be anything other than that. And treat people with respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
The irony in that is Auriemma himself went on an angry tirade regarding the game\u2019s officiating during an interview with ESPN\u2019s Holly Rowe. Then when the game was ending, he said something to South Carolina coach Dawn Staley that sparked a heated exchange.<\/p>\n
During postgame interviews, Auriemma put his own frustrations behind him and declined to talk in detail about what was said between the coaches.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Instead, he tried to make sense of how the game played out. His biggest takeaway was that a couple of the Huskies flaws caught up with them Friday night.<\/p>\n
![\"UConn\u2019s]()
<\/p>\n
UConn\u2019s Sarah Strong (21) drives to the basket against South Carolina’s Agot Makeer (44) during their Final Four game at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona Friday, April 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jim Shannon\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
Their reliance needing to make shots to win was exposed by an elite defense as they missed 10 of their first 11 3-point attempts and scored their fewest points in an NCAA Tournament game since 1992 in a 75-47 second-round loss to Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n
Their youth became an issue for the first time all season as sophomore Sarah Strong played like an underclassmen, shooting 4 for 16 from the floor, while freshman Blanca Quinonez was rendered ineffective by South Carolina\u2019s size and her own foul trouble.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest problem was the difference in free throw shooting where we shot four free throws or went 4 for 6 on free throws, which in a game like this seems absurd,\u201d Auriemma said.<\/p>\n
The Huskies were just 4 for 6 from the free throw line while South Carolina was 18 for 22. Auriemma was angry that in the third quarter six fouls were called against UConn while zero were called against the Gamecocks. That prompted the tirade with Rowe on the officials<\/p>\n
![\"UConn]()
<\/p>\n
UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma yells at someone on the bench during their loss to South Carolina in the Final Four game at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona Friday, April 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jim Shannon\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
Despite that disparity and other frustrations,\u00a0Auriemma talked about how he was proud of the way his players handled themselves afterward.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
There were plenty of tears in the locker room, but the Huskies made no excuses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings that need to be fixable during the season the that nag a little, it kind of bites you on the butt on the back end,\u201d Ashlynn Shade said. \u201cI think remembering this feeling and knowing what it feels like to be in spot and just using that as fuel to get better for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shade, who scored 10 points on 5-for-11 shooting, said most of her tears and raw emotions were over not getting a chance to play against with seniors Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme and not the result of the game.<\/p>\n
As far as this season was concerned, she was very proud of the Huskies, national championship or not.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was such a special year for all of us,\u201d Shade said. \u201cI think this is such a special team. I am very fortunate to be a part of it. You don\u2019t find many teams like this high of a level that have so much love for each other and so much connection playing the game on and off the court. It is just special.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"UConn]()
<\/p>\n
UConn fans look on as time winds down during their loss to South Carolina in the Final Four game at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona Friday, April 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jim Shannon\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
Ducharme agreed with her that losing one game doesn\u2019t take the beauty out of an otherwise spectacular season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing is that this loss doesn\u2019t define us after the season we have had,\u201d Ducharme said. \u201cWhat outweighs that and lasts is how much we mean to each other and how close this team is. This game doesn\u2019t define our season.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cWe accomplished so much this season and have a lot to be proud of, but unfortunately we have a very high standard of excellence here, and you play to win national championships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fudd said the perspective she has gained the last five years at UConn allows her to know that the sadness she feels about the end of her career is well balanced with future success and excitement over the players that return next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want them to let this define who we are as a team and who they are as individuals,\u201d Fudd said. \u201cIt is easy to internalize what everyone is feeling right now. But I want them instead of going down that rabbit hole and internalizing that, come back in the summer and \u2026 honestly I fear for everybody that has to play this team next year.<\/p>\n
![\"UConn]()
<\/p>\n
UConn players make their way off the court following their loss to South Carolina in their Final Four game at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona Friday, April 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jim Shannon\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have 10 people returning, and it is a scary thought of that core group getting another chance to get even better and to grow together. I really am scared for everyone (they play).\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
For Auriemma, this season will be judged not by the result of the final game, but by the pride he felt in his players throughout the whole journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know all the things that your team is really, really good at, and you know all the things your team is potentially going to get hurt by,\u201d he said. \u201cYou try all year long to kind of cover up those things and hide ’em from everybody so they don’t see ’em.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team did a really, really good job of that. They really played for each other. We talked a lot this year about coaches can only coach so much, and how they coach each other means more than what the coaches are saying. I think they did a great job this year of coaching each other and getting the most out of each other.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I was really grateful for that, to be able to coach a team like that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma during their loss to South Carolina in the Final Four game at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[13590,13589,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-564444","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-all-daily-sites","9":"tag-ct-insider","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}