Sports

UConn Coach Geno Auriemma Slams Referees After Controversial Call Potentially Decides The Outcome In Loss To Iowa

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Getty Image / Steph Chambers


Friday night’s Women’s Final Four matchup between the UConn Huskies and Iowa Hawkeyes lived up to its ballyhooed billing. But, the game was, in part, decided by a controversial call in the game’s final five seconds that has everyone talking about it.

I think we all expected to be talking about the matchup between the sport’s two biggest stars in UConn’s Paige Bueckers and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. Instead, the talk in the postgame press conference for legendary UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma was about that last-second illegal screen call.

UConn had the ball trailing by a point with just under ten seconds remaining in the game after storming back from a nine-point second-half deficit. But, forward Aaliyah Edwards was called for a moving screen with under five seconds remaining while trying to free up Paige Bueckers for the game-winning shot. Iowa would eventually win, 71-69.

Here’s the play.

By letter of the law, it’s probably an illegal screen. But, if that’s the standard the officials wanted to set, they could’ve called a lot more illegal screens throughout the game.

Geno Auriemma was asked about the call in his postgame and hit the nail on the head.

That’s simply not the way the game had been officiated up until that point, and to call an illegal screen there, one that wasn’t even particularly egregious is a little suspect. Add in that Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is a TV ratings machine, and it’s easy to see why so many people are pretty skeptical about the call.

That being said, Uconn could’ve secured the rebound when Clark missed her second foul shot with a little under three seconds and had a real chance to win after a timeout that would’ve advanced the ball. As Paige Bueckers said after the game, one call doesn’t decide a basketball game.

But, this call certainly played a bigger part than nearly any call made all year. It overshadowed a tremendous game between two great teams and two superstar players. That’s a real shame.