Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they are in Norman, OK for a matchup with the Oklahoma Sooners. Tip is scheduled for 9 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on espn2.

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UConn Women’s Basketball links

UConn Women Make The Grades [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

There’s No Pouting In Basketball! [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Chong Enjoys Herself; OK Series Not Expected To Be Renewed [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Hartley Takes A Hit And Keeps Rolling Along [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

UConn honors its best and brightest [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Put those coins away [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Teammates aiding Mosqueda-Lewis [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Game preview: UConn women at Oklahoma [Lee Lewis – The Republican-American]

Bid On Geno Auriemma’s Tie To Benefit Play4Kay [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn’s Faris looks to make offensive impact [CT Post]

For Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, A Confidence Game [Hartford Courant]

Several Huskies recognized for academic success [New Haven Register]

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis breaking out of slump [New Haven Register]

No. 3 UConn travels to Oklahoma today for final nonleague matchup [The Day]

UConn Women’s Basketball Glance — At Oklahoma [The Hour]

No. 3 UConn women have been downright stingy on defense [AP]

Sooners to host Connecticut for fourth annual matchup [The Oklahoma Daily]

Sherri Coale wants Sooners to focus on themselves, not Connecticut [NewsOK.com]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Jeremy Lamb’s Cold Hand Comes At Bad Time [Hartford Courant]

Questions about program’s future could have long-lasting effects [New Haven Register]

Other UConn related links

Comments On Warde Manuel Hiring At UConn [UConnHuskies.com]

Warde Manuel introduced as UConn AD [CT Post]

W. Ice Hockey. Huskies Swept by No. 6 Boston College [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Tennis. Women’s Tennis Drops Spring Opener To Army [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Tennis. Men’s Tennis Falls at Army, 5-2 [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Ice Hockey. Huskies Fall In Overtime At Sacred Heart, 2-1 [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Volleyball. Strauss-O’Brien Adds Yates as New Volleyball Assistant [UConnHuskies.com]

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The last time the Boston Red Sox went to salary arbitration with a player it was 2002. And with the hearing scheduled for David Ortiz today at 2 p.m., it looked as though the streak would end.

But according to a report from Buster Olney of ESPN, the Red Sox and Big Papi have agreed on a one-year deal worth $14.575 million. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has confirmed that a deal has been done as well.

Big Papi had asked for $16.5 million and the Red Sox were offering $12.65 million so the two sides settled in the middle. The Red Sox had been trying to sign Papi to a two-year deal to lower their luxury tax number. It’s still possible they could agree to a two-year deal before the season starts.

Ortiz is coming off a 2011 season where he hit .309 with 29 home runs and 96 RBIs.

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Photo credit: Getty Images

University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst announced on Sunday that Warde J. Manuel, formally of the University of Buffalo, has been named the Director of Athletics at UConn. He will oversee all aspects of UConn Huskies athletics.

Here’s the release from UConn:

STORRS, Conn. – Warde J. Manuel, who has had a distinguished career in intercollegiate athletics that ranges from being a student-athlete to a director of athletics, has been named the new Director of Athletics at the University of Connecticut by President Susan Herbst.

Manuel, a 1990 graduate of the University of Michigan where he played both football and track and field, has most recently been the Director of Athletics at the University at Buffalo for the past six years.

“We are incredibly proud and thrilled that Warde will be joining the Husky family,” said Herbst. “UConn is one of the great American universities and our athletics program is the envy of many. It’s because of this that we were able to attract an amazing pool of candidates from across the nation – and an ideal, stand-out candidate of Warde’s exceptionally-high caliber. He will play the integral, and even transformational, role in the future of UConn athletics. It’s a great day for this university.”

Manuel led a 20-sport program at Buffalo, an institution that is a member of the prestigious American Association of Universities. Buffalo enjoyed an unparalleled period of success during his time there from an athletic, academic and community service perspective.

“I am so honored and excited to come to the University of Connecticut,” said Manuel. “UConn is synonymous with greatness, excellence and achievement. It is without a doubt one of the legendary schools that is at the pinnacle of intercollegiate athletics. The opportunity to be the athletics director at UConn and lead this extraordinary division is the role of a lifetime. You have remarkable coaches, great leadership, outstanding student-athletes and a wonderful base of fans, alumni and supporters. Our focus will be on academic success, compliance, ensuring great relationships with our fans, friends and supporters and, without a doubt, victory on the field and the court. My family and I are so happy to call UConn home.”

From an academic standpoint, teams at Buffalo enjoyed incredible academic success. When Manuel arrived at UB, there were four programs – football, men’s basketball, wrestling, and baseball – that fell far below the NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) cut score of 925. With a focused academic plan, all four teams posted a four-year APR rate above the cut score and at the end of 2009-10, 10 of UB’s 20 sports had scores of 975 or above.

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Buffalo enjoyed great on-field success during Manuel’s time as the football team participated in the 2009 International Bowl and the men’s basketball team made postseason appearances in three of the past seven years. Olympic sports also thrived under Manuel’s leadership with accomplishments such as three-straight Dad Vail Regatta titles by the rowing team, six wrestlers earning spots at the 2011 NCAA Championship and the women’s tennis team making an appearance in the 2008 NCAA tournament. The sports of baseball and softball won a record number of games during his tenure and student-athletes earned All-American and all-conference honors at record rates.

Under Manuel’s direction, UB student-athletes, coaches and staff are committed to community outreach and developed a comprehensive outreach program that reached across social and economic borders. UB student-athletes, coaches and administrators conduct over 2,500 community service hours in the Western New York community on an annual basis. UB’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) also coordinates 16 community service projects per year including internal campus related projects and external community projects. Each of Buffalo’s 20 athletic teams also conduct at least one community service project per year.

Manuel was honored by Sports Business Journal as a 2008 national 40-Under-40 honoree after receiving the same honor from Business First of Buffalo in Fall of 2007. Manuel has served on a number of national and conference committees and boards.

In September of 2011, he was one of only three Athletic Directors asked to serve on the Collegiate Model Rules committee, a working group of the Division I Committee on Academic Performance, charged with broad overview of the current NCAA Rules Manual.

He also currently serves on the NCAA Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet and served for four years as a member of the NCAA’s Academic Cabinet. During that time he was selected as Chair of the NCAA Academic Eligibility & Compliance Transfer Ad Hoc Committee. He is a member of the Boards of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and the D1A Athletic Directors Association. He also serves as a member of the Council of Presidents Budget & Finance Committee and served for three years as the Chair of the Mid-American Conference Director of Athletics Finance Committee.

In June of 2007, Manuel accepted the Opportunity Award by all-time tennis great Billie Jean King, as Buffalo was recognized by the Women’s Sports Foundation as one of four “standout” colleges and universities in the nation for outstanding achievement in providing equitable athletic opportunities for its female student-athletes.

Prior to his time at Buffalo, he was the assistant and associate director of athletics for the University of Michigan, where he oversaw that school’s football and men’s basketball programs. In February 1998, he was named an assistant athletic director at Michigan with responsibilities for overseeing operational facets of the university’s athletic program. He was named an associate athletic director in September 2000.

Born May 22, 1968, Manuel is a native of New Orleans, who was a high school All-American football player and played for the University of Michigan under its legendary coach, Bo Schembechler. Manuel earned multiple letters and started at defensive end in his sophomore year. His football career was cut short by a neck injury and he subsequently earned two letters on the Wolverines’ track and field team.

After graduating from Michigan, Manuel was coordinator of the university’s Wade H. McCree, Jr., Incentive Scholars Program from June 1990 to August 1993. The program is a partnership with The President’s Council of State Universities and Detroit Public Schools that helps students prepare for higher education at public universities in Michigan. He subsequently worked briefly as an academic advisor with the Georgia Tech Athletic Association before being named assistant athletic director of academic affairs.

In the course of working on a PhD in social work and psychology at Michigan, he earned a master’s degree in social work in 1993 and an MBA from Michigan’s Ross School of Business in April 2005.

Manuel will sign a five-year contract with UConn, with the option for a two-year extension at the discretion of the university. He will be paid a base salary of $450,000 a year. He is eligible for a $100,000 performance incentive annually if certain academic and athletic goals are achieved and is eligible for $100,000 in deferred compensation to be awarded at the conclusion of his five-year contract.

Manuel and his wife, Chrislan, have a daughter, Emma (17), and a son, Evan (13).

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Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Men’s Basketball links

George Blaney’s take [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Wrapping Things Up From The Dome [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Drummond Showed Toughness, Character [David Borges – New Haven Register]

the wrap [Ed Daigneault – The Republican-American]

Notes/Quotes from Syracuse: “It was as good an offensive game as we can have.” [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

A little better but… [Neill Ostrout – Journal Inquirer]

A quick look at the numbers [Neill Ostrout – Journal Inquirer]

Black Clouds [UConn Huskies Basketball]

UConn’s effort improved, but Syracuse too hot to handle [CT Post]

Drummond heeds ‘dunk everything’ message [CT Post]

Huskies Show Fight But Can’t Score Knockout At Syracuse [Hartford Courant]

Drummond: Injury ‘Killed’ Momentum [Hartford Courant]

As Drummond Goes, So Goes UConn’s Future [Hartford Courant]

Kemba, Gagne named CSWA’s top athletes [New Haven Register]

Syracuse shoots down Huskies’ hopes for an upset [New Haven Register]

UCONN MEN NOTEBOOK: Drummond injury came at a bad time [New Haven Register]

UConn Huskies’ NCAA tournament hopes are in question after losing for sixth time in last seven games vs. Syracuse [NY Daily News]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Mosqueda-Lewis Breaks Out – For Now [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Rodgers Is Latest Victim For UConn’s Vaunted Defense [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

UConn’s defense is dominant again [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Mosqueda-Lewis rediscovers touch as No. 3 UConn rolls by Georgetown [CT Post]

UConn women: What we learned [CT Post]

Huskies Win Physical Contest Against Georgetown, 80-38 [Hartford Courant]

Auriemma Promotes Charities, Academic Performance [Hartford Courant]

Huskies blow out No. 14 Georgetown 80-38 [New Haven Register]

Several Huskies recognized for academic success [New Haven Register]

Hoyas bring out UConn’s fire [The Day]

Other UConn related links

M. Ice Hockey. Men’s Hockey at Sacred Heart Postponed To 6 p.m. Sunday [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Ice Hockey. Huskies Shutout by Visiting Boston College [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Swimming. Bransfield, Cecco Honored As BIG EAST Diving Championships Continue [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn game in Bridgeport could happen [CT Post]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

When the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team clamps down on its defense, it usually spells doom for the opponent. The Georgetown Hoyas found that out on Saturday afternoon.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis broke out of her slump with 23 points to lead the Huskies to an 80-38 win over the Hoyas in front of a sold-out crowd at Gampel Pavilion.

It’s the 27th straight win over the Hoyas for the Huskies who improve to 23-2 (11-1 Big East). Georgetown falls to 19-6 (8-4). It was also the 99th straight home win for Huskies.

Besides her 23 points, KML had six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Bria Hartley had a nice game with 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals while Tiffany Hayes had 12 points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Kelly Faris, who was outstanding on the defensive end, had her typical nice all around game with five points, six rebounds and five assists.

Sugar Rodgers was shadowed by Faris most of the game and had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Rubylee Wright also had 10 points for the Hoyas. Adria Crawford led Georgetown with six rebounds to go along with her two points.

Believe it or not, Georgetown kept this one close early on.

Trailing 4-2, the Hoyas went on a 5-0 run behind a Wright basket and Rodgers three pointer. Hayes tied it back up for the Huskies with a three. After exchanging baskets, KML put the Huskies in the lead with a jumper only to see Wright hit a three to give the Hoyas back the lead.

But that would be the last time Georgetown saw the lead in the game.

KML kicked off the start of a 15-1 run with a jumper to give UConn the lead for good. During that run, the Huskies turned up the defensive intensity and held the Hoyas without a field goal just under eight minutes. UConn would head into the locker room with a 31-18 lead and wouldn’t take long for them to grow that.

Faris and Caroline Doty would hit threes to start the second half and UConn would just continue to build their lead behind some solid offense and great defense.

When UConn is on, they are on. And when they are on offensively, it usually means that they are at their best on the defensive side of the ball too. That was certainly the case for the run in the first half and in the second half when they would build up their lead.

And while they had 14 turnovers in the game, it was certainly better than their previous efforts. While I’m sure that number won’t please head coach Geno Auriemma, he does have to a little happier that the number wasn’t higher.

UConn won’t have too much time to enjoy this one though as it’ll be back to practice and then on a plane tomorrow. That plane will take them to Norman, Oklahoma for a matchup with the Oklahoma Sooners on Monday night. Tip is scheduled for 9 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

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Notes and musings:

Georgetown Hoyas @ UConn Huskies 2.11.12 box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Geno Auriemma and Georgetown head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. There are also some quotes from UConn players in the link.

The only team in the Big East that Williams-Flournoy hasn’t beaten is the Huskies.

Stefanie Dolson, Caroline Doty, Heather Buck, Kiah Stokes and Kelly Faris were honored at halftime for achieving a 3.0 GPA in the fall semester. In total, 346 UConn student-athletes were honored.

The starters for UConn were Bria Hartley, Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes, Kelly Faris and Stefanie Dolson.

The Huskies shot 50% (27-54) from the floor for the game. The Hoyas shot 25% (14-56).

UConn had 20 assists on their 27 made baskets.

The Huskies were 8-of-24 (33.3%) on three-pointers while Georgetown was 4-of-19 (21.1%).

UConn went 18-of-26 (69.2%) from the free throw line. The Hoyas were 6-of-11 (54.5%).

The Huskies won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Georgetown 41-34.

UConn outscored the Hoyas 34-18 in the paint and 21-7 on the fast break.

The Huskies had 14 second chance points to 13 for Georgetown.

UConn had 28 points off of 21 Hoyas turnovers. Georgetown had six points off of 14 Huskies turnovers.

Behind Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis’ 23 points, the Huskies bench outscored the Hoyas bench 34-13.

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Photo credit: Brad Horrigan – Hartford Courant (No. 21 in gallery)

The calendar may say that spring starts on March 23rd this year but in New England, spring actually starts on Truck Day for the Boston Red Sox. And guess what folks, that day was today.

The Red Sox equipment managers spent the morning loading up the truck with equipment for spring training that culminates on February 17th when pitchers and catchers report to camp. The position players are scheduled to report six days later on February 23rd.

So with the truck on it’s way to Ft. Myers, spring fever can start here in New England. Who cares if it was snowing in parts of New England and cold everywhere, Red Sox baseball is right around the corner.

And after what transpired at the end of last season, I’m actually looking forward to spring training.

From what the local Boston media has been reporting, there is already a slew of Red Sox big leaguers and minor leaguers doing informal workouts at their new spring training complex in Ft. Myers. This will be the first time that the Red Sox will have all of their players in the same complex.

In the past, the Red Sox held their spring training at their minor league complex before moving to City of Palms Park for their spring training games. Now they’ll be able to do everything in the same complex, playing their games at their new stadium, JetBlue Park.

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Photo credit: Red Sox Twitter page