"I just know there were three or four (illegal screens) called on us”: UConn HC breaks silence on Aaliyah Edwards’ clutch foul call in final four loss

UConn coach Geno Auriemma felt that the officiating in the Final Four clash was at fault when his team lost to Iowa 71-69. He spoke about a few illegal screens in the game against UConn which contributed to the loss. However, Auriemma noted that illegal screens alone didn’t result in defeat.

In the nail-biting encounter, the UConn Huskies trailed 70-69 as the game entered the final moments. Aliyah Edwards was called for an offensive foul with 3.9 seconds on the clock. She screened Gabie Marshall to make way for her teammate Paige Bueckers to make the winning shot.

Geno Auriemma shared his views during the media interaction as he attempted to shoulder responsibility while being critical of the last-minute drama:

"I just know there were three or four of them called on us, and I don't think there were any called on them. So I guess we just gotta get better on not setting illegal screens."

UConn was successful in maintaining a lead in the first half. However, the Hawkeyes bounced back in the second half putting the Huskies on the backfoot. Hannah Stuelke scored 23 points and Caitlin Clark added 21 points and 9 rebounds for the Hawkeyes. For UConn, Aliyah Edwards and Paige Bueckers were the top scorers contributing 17 points each.

After the game, Aliyah Edwards opined that the screen was “pretty clean” in her view while Paige Bueckers echoed her coach's views. She said that her team could have done a better job and one decision alone didn’t kill the March Madness dream for them:

"Everybody can make a big deal of that one single play, but not one single play wins a basketball game or loses a basketball game."

Geno Auriemma on what went wrong for UConn

After the game, Geno Auriemma said that the team had no control over the screen, and opined that they couldn’t avail the chances they had control over:

"But we had control over whether we got the rebound or not. So we had an opportunity at the very end, and if we secured that rebound, now we have one more chance to win the game, and we didn't do it."

The 70-year-old added that his team didn’t deserve to win the way they played the last couple of possessions regardless of whether the call was right or wrong.

The Iowa Huskies will face South Carolina in the Finals of the NCAA tournament on Sunday. South Carolina booked their date by defeating NC State, 78-59.

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