Dawn Staley Spoke to Geno Auriemma After Heated Exchange Video, 'One Moment Doesn't Define a Career'

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley is ready to move on from her viral encounter with UConn head coach Geno Auriemma at the end of their Final Four game last week.

Staley released a statement on Tuesday saying that she's spoken with Auriemma, and she is now "asking everyone to turn the page." She added, "One moment doesn't define a career, and it doesn't change the impact he's had on growing women's basketball."

Staley and the Gamecocks lost in the national championship game for the second year in a row, this time falling to UCLA 79-51 in Sunday's NCAA Women's Tournament final. Unfortunately, Staley's viral exchange with Auriemma remained a talking point after the game.

Auriemma apologized for his outburst on the sideline when he approached Staley for a post-game handshake. He had said in his post-game news conference that he was frustrated that he waited three minutes for a pregame handshake with Staley, and he also complained about the way she "rants and raves" at the officials during his in-game interview.

"There's no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina," Auriemma said in a statement issued through the school. "It's unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut. I want to apologize to the staff and the team at South Carolina. It was uncalled for in how I reacted. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don't want my actions to detract from that. I've had a great relationship with their staff, and I sincerely want to apologize to them."

Staley is expected to have South Carolina back in the mix as a national championship contender again next season, so it's not a surprise that she's ready to put this situation behind her.