DiJonai Carrington Questions Lack of Foul Call at End of Baylor's Loss to UConn

Eric Gay/Associated Press

Baylor star DiJonai Carrington was critical of the officiating in the final seconds of the Lady Bears' 69-67 Elite Eight loss to Connecticut in the 2021 NCAA women's basketball tournament Monday.

Carrington had a chance to give Baylor the lead in the final seconds but was stymied on the left side of the lane by Aaliyah Edwards and Olivia Nelson-Ododa:

"Personally, don't see it as a controversial call," the senior guard told reporters. "I've already seen the replay. One girl fouled me in my face and one girl fouled me on my arm. At that point you can't do anything else."

Carrington had plenty of supporters on social media:

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UConn head coach Geno Auriemma seemed to acknowledge his team benefited in the situation but added that every game is full of calls that are missed or could go either way:

The frustration from Baylor players and fans was understandable. Carrington should've gone to the line for two shots, and she was a 72.3 percent free-throw shooter. At the very least, you would've expected her to tie the game and send it into overtime.

And the score may not have even been that close were it not for an apparent hamstring injury suffered by DiDi Richards. UConn went on a 19-0 run across the third and fourth quarters, almost all of which happened after Richards exited the game.

"Obviously, you can never account for injuries happening," Carrington said of losing Richards. "That was tough for us. [Freshman guard Sarah Andrews] got thrown into the fire. We just tried to weather the storm. We never gave up. We never thought we were out of it."

Baylor showed great determination to get into a position to win, but the foul that wasn't will likely overshadow much of what happened before it.