Long one of the most fearsome intersectional rivalries in sports, women’s basketball games between UConn and Tennessee have brought out the best in players of both teams for decades.
The rivalry has also made legends of coaches from both schools over time, deifying late Volunteers coach Pat Summitt and Huskies coach Geno Auriemma. When the two teams met Thursday in Knoxville, Tenn., Auriemma took some of the rivalry’s passion out on the officiating crew in a halftime interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe.
“You told me before the game you couldn’t put (Tennessee) on the free throw line or allow second-chance points. How do you address that with your team in the locker room?” Rowe asked.
“How do I address it? How do I address it?” Auriemma said as “Rocky Top” blared in the background behind him. “This is what you get when you come down here. The game was called one way, then it changed. Nothing else changed. We didn’t change. Nothing else changed.”
Shaking off a seven-point second quarter that saw Tennessee whittle a 16-point lead to four, No. 5 UConn topped the Volunteers 84-67.
