Few college basketball coaches have been as dominant in recent years as UConn’s Geno Auriemma and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley.
Between the two, they have 15 national championships, 45 conference championships, and almost 2,000 wins combined. Now, Auriemma and Staley’s squads are meeting in a Final Four bout on Friday night. This matchup has already proved to be a championship-caliber bout, with UConn winning last year’s NCAA championship 82-59 over the Gamecocks.
Let’s see how Auriemma and Staley match up head-to-head, their coaching records, and career accolades.
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Geno Auriemma vs. Dawn Staley head-to-head record
UConn and South Carolina, under Auriemma and Staley, have met 14 times during both coaches’ tenures. Auriemma holds the overall 9-5 head-to-head record over Staley, with UConn’s most recent win coming in the 2025 National Championship game.
Staley has been gaining ground on Auriemma, though, with all five of her wins coming within the last seven matchups between the two women’s college hoops powerhouses. Friday’s Final Four matchup will be the 15th meeting between Staley and Auriemma.
Here’s a game-by-game breakdown of the history between Auriemma’s Huskies and Staley’s Gamecocks.
| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | NCAA Tournament? |
| Dec. 28, 2008 | UConn | 77 | South Carolina | 48 | No |
| Feb. 9, 2015 | UConn | 87 | South Carolina | 62 | No |
| Feb. 8, 2016 | UConn | 66 | South Carolina | 54 | No |
| Feb. 13, 2017 | UConn | 66 | South Carolina | 55 | No |
| Feb. 1, 2018 | UConn | 83 | South Carolina | 58 | No |
| March 26, 2018 | UConn | 94 | South Carolina | 65 | Yes |
| Feb. 11, 2019 | UConn | 97 | South Carolina | 79 | No |
| Feb. 10, 2020 | South Carolina | 70 | UConn | 52 | No |
| Feb. 8, 2021 | UConn | 63 | South Carolina | 59 | No |
| Nov. 22, 2021 | South Carolina | 73 | UConn | 57 | No |
| April 3, 2022 | South Carolina | 64 | UConn | 49 | Yes |
| Feb. 5, 2023 | South Carolina | 81 | UConn | 77 | No |
| Feb. 11, 2024 | South Carolina | 83 | UConn | 65 | No |
| Apr. 6, 2025 | UConn | 82 | South Carolina | 59 | Yes |
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Geno Auriemma career coaching record
Auriemma has coached since the 1985-1986 season with the UConn Huskies. He boasts an absurd 12 NCAA championships with the Huskies.
Here is Auriemma’s coaching career breakdown.
| Years | Games | Career record | Win percentage | Conference championships | NCAA championships |
| 1985-present | 1,453 | 1,288-165 | 88.6% | 32 times | 12 |
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Dawn Staley career coaching record
Staley has coached since the 2000-2001 season. She began her coaching journey at Temple University, before joining South Carolina prior to the 2008-2009 season. She has won 3 championships with the Gamecocks.
Here is Staley’s coaching career breakdown.
| Years | Team | Games | Record | Win percentage | Conference championships | NCAA championships |
| 2000-2008 | Temple | 252 | 172-80 | 68.3% | 4 times (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006) | 0 |
| 2008-present | South Carolina | 623 | 510-113 | 81.9% | 9 times | 3 (2017, 2022, 2024) |
| TOTAL | 875 | 682-193 | 77.9% | 13 | 3 |