Maybe Geno just needed a minute.
UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma apologized on Saturday after a heated exchange with South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley on Friday. The incident occurred in the final seconds of No. 1 South Carolina’s 62-48 upset over No. 1 Connecticut at midcourt.
Auriemma and Staley, two of the biggest names in women's college hoops, had to be separated at the end of the Final Four classic.
In a statement Auriemma said that "there’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina."
"It was uncalled for in how I reacted. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that," he wrote. "I’ve had a great relationship with their staff, and I sincerely want to apologize to them.”
A representative for South Carolina did not immediately return a request for comment.
When asked after the game what angered Auriemma, Staley told ESPN’s Holly Rowe on Friday: "I have no idea."
"But [I’ll] let you know this: I’m of integrity. I’m of integrity. So if I did something wrong to Geno, I had no idea what I did," she said. "I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand at the beginning of the game."
Staley added: “I didn’t know, I went down there pregame, shook everybody on his staff’s hand, I don’t know what he came with after the game. But hey, sometimes things get heated, we move on.”
ESPN's broadcast showed Staley and Auriemma appearing to shake hands before Friday's game, though it was brief.
On Friday, Auriemma addressed the handshake to reporters: “I said what I said, and obviously she didn’t like it. I just told the truth.”
"The protocol is, before the game, you meet at halfcourt,” Auriemma added. "The two coaches meet at halfcourt and they shake hands. They announce it on the loud speaker. I waited there for like three minutes."
Connecticut was on a 54-game winning streak before Friday. The Huskies won last year’s national championship against South Carolina, led by Staley.
