From UConn:

TAMPA, Fla. — A day after leading her team to its third-straight NCAA National Championship game, University of Connecticut junior guard Moriah Jefferson (Glenn Heights, Texas) was selected as the winner of the 2015 Nancy Lieberman Award, as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame selection committee on Monday.

UConn’s Moriah Jefferson (4) drives to the basket during the game between the UConn Huskies and Maryland Terrapins at the 2015 NCAA Women’s Final Four at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL.

Now in its fifteenth year, the award recognizes the top point guard in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball. Jefferson becomes just the fourth Husky player to win the award and first since Renee Montgomery in 2008-09.

“Moriah Jefferson has been an incredible asset to the UConn Huskies and we are pleased to honor her with this prestigious award,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “Her play mirrors the floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills of Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman and the many exceptional point guards who have received this award over the years.”

The Husky point guard became the first Husky since Kelly Faris in 2012-13 to earn the conference’s Most Improved Player accolade when she earned the distinction on March 6 . The guard has enjoyed a stellar junior campaign, averaging 12.4 points in 28.4 minutes per game. In total, she ranks first on the team in assists (186) and steals (96) and is one of six Huskies shooting over 50.0 percent from the floor (59.6). During Connecticut’s five-game NCAA Tournament run, Jefferson has averaged 14.6 points and is shooting an incredible 68.4 (30-of-44) from the field.

The Glenn Heights, Texas native was selected to both the USWBA and WBCA All-America teams earlier this week.

The original watch list of 30 candidates was narrowed to 15 and then five before Jefferson was selected as the recipient of the award by a premier selection committee made up of top college basketball personnel including Hall of Famers, media members, head coaches and sports information directors appointed by the Hall of Fame.

Jefferson and the Huskies will compete for their third-consecutive national championship when they challenge Notre Dame at Amalie Arena on Tuesday, April 7 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Rick Porcello hasn’t pitched in a game for the Boston Red Sox yet. He’ll do that on Wednesday.

FORT MYERS, FL – MARCH 01: Rick Porcello #22 of the Boston Red Sox poses for a portrait on March 1, 2015 at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

But even without doing so, the Red Sox and Porcello have agreed on a four-year, $82.5 million extension. The deal will keep Porcello in Boston through the 2019 season. Porcello would have been a free agent after this season.

He gets a $500,000 signing bonus, salaries of $20 million in 2016 and 2017, and salaries of $21 million in 2018 and 2019.

Porcello explained his decision in an article on The Players Tribune.

Here’s the full release from the Red Sox:

BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox today signed right-handed pitcher Rick Porcello to a four-year contract extension through the 2019 season.

Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington made the announcement.

Porcello is scheduled to make his Red Sox debut on Wednesday, starting against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Boston’s second game of the 2015 season. The 26-year-old was acquired from the Detroit Tigers on December 11, 2014 in exchange for outfielder Yoenis Céspedes, right-handed pitcher Alex Wilson, and minor league left-handed pitcher Gabe Speier.

In 32 appearances for the Tigers last season, including 31 starts, Porcello went 15-13 with a 3.43 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 204.2 innings. Along with leading the American League with three shutouts, he also placed among AL leaders with career bests in wins (T-8th), ERA (17th), innings (13th), and road ERA (6th, 2.66). He ranked second in the majors with 30 opponent ground into double plays, and had the eighth-highest ground ball-to-fly ball ratio in the AL.

The native of Morristown, NJ issued a career-low 1.8 walks per nine innings in 2014, the eighth-best mark in the AL and his third season among the league’s Top 10 in that category. His 2.21 career walks per nine innings ratio ranks as the fifth-lowest among active big leaguers with at least 1,000 innings pitched, trailing only Dan Haren (1.86), Cliff Lee (1.94), Mark Buehrle (2.05), and Ricky Nolasco (2.10).

Porcello is the only qualifying major leaguer with both a walks-per-nine-innings rate under 3.0 and a ground ball rate of at least 50% in each of the last six seasons (2009-14).

Signed by the Tigers as the 27th selection in the first round of the 2007 June Draft, Porcello has made at least 27 starts and has pitched at least 162.2 innings in all six big league seasons since his 2009 debut, going 76-63 with a 4.30 ERA (513 ER/1,073.1 IP). He placed third among AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2009, when at 20 years old he won 14 games and posted a 3.96 ERA as the youngest player in the AL.

Porcello is just the third pitcher in modern major league history (since 1900) to record at least 10 wins in each of his first six campaigns, all before turning 26 years old. The others are Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley and Bert Blyleven. No other modern major league pitcher has made more than 25 starts in each of his first six big league seasons, all before turning 26.

UConn’s Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (23) whispers to Breanna Stewart during the press conference for the Elite Eight Game in Albany, NY featuring the UConn Huskies and Dayton Flyers.

From UConn:

TAMPA, Fla. — With their team set to compete for the 2015 NCAA National Championship on Tuesday, University of Connecticut women’s basketball standouts Breanna Stewart (Syracuse, N.Y.) and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) were selected as two of four finalists for the 2015 Honda Sports Award for women’s basketball, as announced by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of the collegiate women sports awards, on Monday.

The Honda Sports Award is presented annually by the CWSA to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”.  The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2015 Honda Cup. The Honda Cup winner will be announced on June 29^th, during a live telecast from Los Angeles.

The nominees were chosen by a panel of coaches representing the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the Honda Sports award winner for basketball will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.

The CWSA presents the Honda Sports Award annually to top women student-athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports.  Honda Sports award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year and all Honda Sports award winners become a finalist for the prestigious 2014 Honda Cup award presented in June.

Stewart, who won the award a season ago, was selected as the Associated Press, USBWA, and WBCA National Player of the Year this week during the Huskies’ trip to the Final Four.

At 1,952 career points Stewart stands at No. 11 on the program’s all-time scoring list. Additionally, she ranks fifth in Husky history with 284 career blocks. Since Stewart joined the program in the 2012-13 campaign, Connecticut owns a 112-5 (.957) overall record, including a 17-0 record in NCAA Tournament play, and has won two-straight national championships.

The Husky forward was named as the Albany Regional’s Most Outstanding Player after averaging 27.0 points and 14.0 rebounds in a pair of UConn victories over Texas and Dayton. The 2014-15 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year has reached double-figure points in 16 of her 17 career NCAA Tournament games.

Mosqueda-Lewis, who picked up WBCA and USBWA All-America honors this week, became the NCAA’s all-time leader in made three point field goals (396) after connecting on seven against the Flyers on March 30. The Husky senior was one of three UConn players named to the All-Regional squad. She became the eighth member of UConn’s 2,000-point club when she notched 21 points against Memphis on Senior Day (Feb. 28).

UConn and Notre Dame will play for the 2015 NCAA championship on Tuesday, April 7. Tipoff is set for 8:45 p.m. on ESPN.

After a rough 2014 season, the Boston Red Sox look to rebound as they open up the 2015 season against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Cardinals television market, you can catch the game on NBC 10. And if you can’t catch the game on television, you can always listen on the 2015 Red Sox Radio Network.

Clay Buchholz makes his first career Opening Day start for the Red Sox. Buchholz made 28 starts in 2014 and was 8-11 with a 5.34 ERA. Today marks his first career start against the Phillies and at Citizens Bank Park.

Cole Hamels, a subject of trade rumors during the offseason, makes his second career Opening Day start. Hamels made 30 starts in 2014 and was 9-9 with a 2.46 ERA.  He last faced the Red Sox in 2012 when he picked up the win after allowing three runs in six innings of work. He’s made five career starts against the visiting nine and is 4-0 with a 1.97 ERA.

0-0		0-0
1. Mookie Betts	CF	1. Ben Revere	LF
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Odubel Herrera	CF
3. David Ortiz	1B	3. Chase Utley	2B
4. Hanley Ramirez	LF	4. Ryan Howard	1B
5. Pablo Sandoval	3B	5. Carlos Ruiz	C
6. Shane Victorino	RF	6. Grady Sizemore	RF
7. Xander Bogaerts	SS	7. Cody Asche	3B
8. Ryan Hanigan	C	8. Freddy Galvis	SS
9. Clay Buchholz	P	9. Cole Hamels	P
Clay Buchholz	SP	Cole Hamels	SP

NOTES:

Here is how the hitters have fared against the starting pitchers during the regular season over their careers.

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photo credits:

From the Boston Red Sox:

BOSTON, MA-The Boston Red Sox set their 2015 Opening Day 25-man roster by making the following moves:

• Right-handed pitcher Koji Uehara was placed on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to March 27) with a left hamstring strain, and left-handed pitcher Edwin Escobar was placed on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to March 29) with left elbow inflammation.
• Left-handed pitcher Brian Johnson, catchers Luke Montz and Humberto Quintero, infielders Jeff Bianchi and Jemile Weeks, and outfielder Quintin Berry have been reassigned to minor league camp.

Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington made the announcements.

The 2015 Opening Day roster includes 12 pitchers, two catchers, six infielders, and five outfielders.

The Red Sox open their 115^th season tomorrow afternoon in Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park. Right-handed pitcher Clay Buchholz will start for Boston and be opposed by Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels, with first pitch set for 3:05 p.m.

The Red Sox’ 2015 Opening Day Roster:

PITCHERS (12): Craig Breslow, Clay Buchholz, Tommy Layne, Justin Masterson, Wade Miley, Edward Mujica, Alexi Ogando, Rick Porcello, Robbie Ross Jr., Junichi Tazawa, Anthony Varvaro, and Steven Wright.

CATCHERS (2): Ryan Hanigan and Sandy Leon.

INFIELDERS (6): Xander Bogaerts, Brock Holt, Mike Napoli, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, and Pablo Sandoval.

OUTFIELDERS (5): Mookie Betts, Allen Craig, Daniel Nava, Hanley Ramirez, and Shane Victorino.