Staley, Auriemma could meet next year for another title

MINNEAPOLIS

Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma hugged at midcourt right after South Carolina ended UConn’s undefeated run in NCAA championship video games.

It was the very first time the coaches experienced fulfilled on women of all ages basketball’s most significant stage and might not be the very last with so many proficient players returning for both equally groups subsequent year, including the final two AP Gamers of the 12 months in Aliyah Boston of South Carolina and Paige Bueckers of UConn.

“It’s tricky to say every single year what could materialize” Auriemma stated. “This yr was a fantastic instance of you plan for some points and then all of a sudden your designs get blown up. I like our odds. Provided we do not have to navigate a time like we did this 12 months, knock on wood. If we remain wholesome, I be expecting to be back future yr.”

The first matchup went to the Gamecocks in dominant style, a 64-49 victory Sunday that gave Staley her next nationwide championship in two title games appearances. It still left Auriemma with his initial reduction in 12 attempts.

“Look at the tradition of UConn and what they have been ready to do,” Staley claimed. “They’re the normal. If it normally takes successful 11 national championships to be a dynasty, I’m possibly heading to drop limited of that, simply because I’m not heading to be in the match very long more than enough for us to earn 11.”

She’s set her possess standard however. The victory made Staley the to start with Black mentor in possibly men’s or women’s Division I basketball to gain two countrywide championships, obtaining her initially just one in 2017.

“I felt a wonderful offer of tension to earn simply because I am a Black mentor,” she said. “Because if we don’t acquire, then you carry in so lots of other, just scrutiny. Like you cannot mentor, you experienced ample to get it completed but however you failed. You sense all of that, and you sense it most likely 10 situations additional than any individual else because we’re at this system.”

Staley explained she feels she can provide inspiration for other Black coaches.

“If I can be that ray of hope, if I can be that vessel of theirs to them currently being profitable, you know I’m a ready giver of this recreation, due to the fact this activity has offered me so substantially.”

On Sunday evening, it gave Staley one more championship.

“We played just about every possession like it was our final possession,” Staley claimed. “They had been identified to be champions currently.”

A 12 months in the past, South Carolina dropped in the Last 4 when Boston missed a layup right before the buzzer.

“Obviously, I have been pondering about this considering the fact that last time. Absolutely everyone had a image of me crying,” mentioned Boston, who was the Most Excellent Participant of the Final Four. “Today, we’re countrywide champions and I’m in tears.”

With Staley calling the photographs in a Louis Vuitton letterman jacket, South Carolina took UConn to faculty on the boards and capped a wire-to-wire run as the No. 1 group in the region in The Linked Press poll.

“They deserved it 100%,” Auriemma reported. “They have been the most effective workforce all yr. The initially 5 minutes, I thought they came out and set the tone then and there for how the game was likely to be played.”

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Additional AP coverage of March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college or university-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Leading25