The Connecticut Huskies had a 2 point lead coming into the 2nd half, but South Carolina rose the level of intensity to kick off the third quarter.

With about 5 1/2 left in the third quarter, Agot Makeer hit a jumper from the baseline, and suddenly the Gamecocks were on a 12-2 run, and now had an 8 point lead. The Huskies had won 37 of their 38 games this year by double digits, and yet they now found themselves down 8 points.

During the 3rd quarter interview, Geno Auriemma was clearly irritated at how the game was going, as he told ESPN reporter Holly Rowe, “There were six fouls called that quarter – all of them against us. And they have been beating the s— out of our guys down their the entire game. I’m not making excuses, ’cause we haven’t been able to make a shot. But this is ridiculous. Their coach rants and raves on the sideline and calls the referees some names you don’t want to hear. And now we get 6 to 0, and I got a kid with a ripped jersey, and they go ‘I didn’t see it.’ Come on, man. It’s for a national championship.”

I have certainly seen a coach complain about the refs in these sideline interviews, but I don’t think I have seen a coach say negative things about the other team’s coach. Then, ESPN showed that Strong actually tore her own jersey out of frustration after missing a drive. It all rubbed me the wrong way, but I have never been a fan of Geno Auriemma’s mouth. He is an amazing coach – but the amount of things he has said makes me wish he would stick to coaching.

As you would expect from a team that was undefeated all season and the defending national champion, the Huskies came back as Azzi Fudd hit a three pointer, KK Arnold stole the ball, and got the ball to Bianca Quinonez who was fouled and hit her free throws to cut the lead to 2 points.

But South Carolina’s Maddy McDaniel drove to the hoop and made a layup followed by Agot Makeer drilling a deep three-pointer, and South Carolina was back up by 7 points. The Huskie’s Sara Strong cut the lead to 4 with a three-pointer of her own with about 4 1/2 to play. But Makeer and Madina Okot both made some layups to extend the lead to 8, and South Carolina never looked back.

The game was a lot closer than the 62-48 score, as UConn had to foul in order to try to extend the game, but South Carolina hit their free throws, and the Huskies were missing their shots causing the lead to just grow.

But then things got awkward. With 0.4 seconds left in the game as South Carolina just took a shot clock violation to not run up the score. It looked like the coaches were going to shake hands, but as Staley shook Geno’s hand, he started screaming at her until both of them were screaming at each other. Then, as his team inbounded the ball, he walked off angry off the court.

So, as his team shook hands with South Carolina, the Hall of Fame coach was already half-way back to the locker room. Future interviews didn’t reveal much other than he was upset that Staley left him standing at mid-court during pre-game handshakes as she shook hands and talked with all of his coaching staff. They then eventually shook hands, but that was apparently a crime that required him to scream at Staley like a raving lunatic and then not shake the hands of any of the South Carolina women, who deserved a better show of sportsmanship.

All tournament, Geno has complained about things the NCAA has done that is not helping advance the game of women’s basketball. And yet, when a team finally beats his Huskies and ends their 54 game winning streak, he doesn’t even show those women the courtesy and sportsmanship of congratulating them. Advancing the game can’t just be about the success of UConn. It also needs to be celebrating other teams when they play a flawless game.

That is simply not acceptable. The South Carolina Gamecocks played an incredible game with stifling defense, and have now reached their third straight women’s NCAA championship game. Congratulations to the South Carolina women!!!!