Unless you missed it, the Final Four matchup between UConn Huskies women’s basketball and South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball was exactly what it should’ve been. Two 1 seeds, two dominant teams, no excuses. South Carolina came in and beat UConn 62–48, snapping a 54-game win streak.
That should’ve been the story.
But it wasn’t.
What people keep going back to is what happened after the game.
And at first, it just looks like a normal heated ending. Geno Auriemma is arguing, frustrated, saying things like:
“There were six fouls called that quarter… this is ridiculous.”
Which, honestly, isn’t surprising. It’s March Madness. Everyone’s a little on edge.
But then the game ends, and instead of just letting it go, he walks off without shaking Dawn Staley’s hand.
And that’s the part that makes you think.
If you actually watch the clip, it doesn’t feel like one quick moment. He’s being held back, keeps going back into it, and then when it’s over, he just leaves.
And in that same moment, you can see Staley say: “I would never do that to him.”
That line kind of sits with me.
Because she’s not making a scene. She’s not dragging it out. She’s just pointing out something simple. Respect.
And that’s where this starts to feel like more than just frustration.
Because losing sucks. Especially like that. Especially when you’ve won 54 straight. But there’s a difference between being frustrated and choosing to walk past someone after a game like that.
And I mean… it’s hard not to think about who he lost to.
Not just a great team, but a female coach who has built something just as dominant.
On the other side, Staley kept it simple after the game:
“Sometimes things get heated. We move on.”
That’s it.
And that contrast is kind of the whole point.
Because they were both in the same game, same pressure, same moment. One walked away from it, the other didn’t.
This isn’t really about one handshake.
It’s just one of those small moments that makes you look at everything a little differently.
Because stuff like this happens all the time in men’s basketball, and it barely becomes a conversation. It just gets brushed off as part of the game.
But here, it feels like it means a little more.
I’m not saying Geno Auriemma doesn’t respect Dawn Staley.
But I am saying it makes you wonder.
South Carolina moves on. They earned that win.
That should be what people remember.
But it’s not.
And that probably says more than anything that actually happened in the game.