Auriemma rips officials and beefs with Staley, but bad night for Strong and Fudd is why UConn fell

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PHOENIX (AP) — UConn's Geno Auriemma was not a happy man.

With the officiating. With his team's performance. With South Carolina coach Dawn Staley.

The Huskies coach ripped into the officiating during a live TV interview and then had a heated argument with Staley in the final seconds of their 62-48 loss to the Gamecocks. But a rough night for UConn stars Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd was the main cause of the Huskies' poor showing in the national semifinals of the women's Final Four on Friday night.

A minute after his sideline blowup, Auriemma stalked off the floor alone, stewing over the nightmare performance.

Fudd — a senior — shouldered the blame, saying she felt she let the team down.

“I thought some of our shots were a little rushed, some of our offense was a little rushed, out of pace,” Fudd said. “But when we got a lot of good looks, a lot of shots in our offense, shots that we are used to taking, we just didn’t hit very many.”

The Huskies hadn't faced much on-court adversity this season, winning almost all of their previous 38 games by a lopsided margin. Once it hit on Friday, UConn wasn't able to respond.

Auriemma said the officiating didn't help.

“There were six fouls called that quarter — all of them against us," Auriemma said on the broadcast at the end of the third quarter. "And they’ve been beating the (expletive) out of our guys down there 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 referee 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.”

Auriemma wasn't finished showing his displeasure. The 72-year-old coach walked toward Staley in the final seconds of the game before the two had an angry exchange, with assistants having to get in between them. Auriemma blamed the dustup on Staley not following the proper protocol for a pregame handshake.

Once the game finally ended, Auriemma slowly walked off the court and down the tunnel without a postgame handshake with the Gamecocks. The teams did shake hands.

UConn has relied all season on Strong and Fudd, a pair of All-America selections who were steady throughout the season. Against South Carolina, Strong finished with just 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Fudd scored eight on 3-of-15 shooting, including 2 of 9 from long range.

The Huskies' lone offensive bright spot came midway through the third quarter. Kayleigh Heckel, Blanca Quiñonez and Fudd each hit a 3-pointer in a 90-second span to cut the deficit to 40-39, but UConn was never able to take the lead. South Carolina took a 44-39 advantage into the fourth quarter and slowly pulled away.

UConn scored just nine points in the fourth, shooting 2 of 14 from the field. The 48 points were easily a season low. The Huskies were also dominated on the glass, with South Carolina holding a 47-32 advantage.

It's true that it was a physical game. Bodies were flying under the basket for the majority of the night for both teams. UConn was whistled for 17 fouls, while South Carolina was called for just eight.

The problem for Strong and Fudd was they couldn't hit shots even when they had a little space to operate. The 6-foot-2 Strong — AP's Player of the Year — was bothered by South Carolina's interior size, with several of her inside shots rattling in and out.

“Well, sometimes we do forget she’s a sophomore,” Auriemma said. “She’s carried a huge load for this team. An awful lot falls on her. Tonight she’ll be the first to tell you that she is not proud of how her game went today.”

Strong's teammates couldn't pick up the slack. Ashlynn Shade finished with 10 points and Quiñonez added seven. Heckel missed a layup late in the game and the broadcast showed her starting to cry walking back down the court.

Teammates encouraged her and one even lifted her chin, but the damage was done.

UConn’s 54-game winning streak is over.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness