Author Archives: ianbethune

What Do Vicente Padilla, Antonio Cromartie & Travis Henry Have in Common?

Vincente Padilla (L), Antonio Cromartie (C), Travis Henry (R)

Are you wondering what new Boston Red Sox pitcher Vicente Padilla, New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie and former NFL player Travis Henry have in common? You are? Well…….

The thing they have in common is the fact that they have all fathered multiple children.

Henry has 11 kids while Cromartie has nine. And on Thursday morning, we learned that Padilla has at least 10 kids.

According to the Nicaragua Dispatch, there is an arrest warrant out for him for not paying child support for his 10th child. The paper reports that he has failed to make child support payments in the amount of $540. They have revoked his passport meaning he can’t leave the country right now.

Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports that the arrest warrant has been dropped but he still has immigration issues to take care of.

Padilla is expected to compete with a slew of others for the final spot in the Red Sox rotation during spring training this year. But if he can’t work out those immigration issues in time to report on February 19th, there’s a chance he could fall behind in the competition.

What gets me is the fact that he uses a glove on the mound but doesn’t use a “glove” in other situations.

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

Photo credit: Getty Images, New York Magazine, Denver Post

Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 2/2

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

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

Jim Calhoun’s Take [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Wrapping Things Up From D.C. [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

‘Back to the Drawing Board’ for UConn [David Borges – New Haven Register]

ugliest wrap of the season [Ed Daigneault – The Republican-American]

Notes/Quotes from Georgetown: “We missed a ton of shots that Division I players, including us at UConn, should make.” [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Last time UConn was so poor on offense was … [Lee Lewis – The Republican-American]

.44 Magnum? Nah, more like a BB gun [Neill Ostrout – Journal Inquirer]

Rock Bottom [UConn Huskies Basketball]

UConn offense struggles again in loss to Georgetown [CT Post]

UConn Misses Out In 58-44 Loss To Georgetown [Hartford Courant]

Napier, Boatright Stay Close Despite Competition On Court [Hartford Courant]

No. 14 Hoyas hand Huskies fourth straight loss [New Haven Register]

Which way will UConn men go? [The Hour]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Saniya Chong Impresses [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Less Than 500 Tickets Remain For Saturday’s UConn Women’s Basketball vs. Rutgers [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn Football links

Big East recruiting team wraps [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Recruiting roundup [John Silver – Journal Inquirer]

Masuk’s Cochran among UConn’s recruiting class [CT Post]

Former Husky Thomas playing wherever Patriots need him [CT Post]

UConn’s Paul Pasqualoni Introduces 25 New Huskies [Hartford Courant]

Casey Cochran heads recruting class [New Haven Register]

Rugg signs to play for UConn Huskies [The Tribune Democrat]

Other UConn related links

W. Soccer. Women’s Soccer Announces Winter Clinic, Feb. 18 [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Track. Women’s Track & Field Set For New Balance Invite [UConnHuskies.com]

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

Georgetown Sends UConn Men To Fourth Straight Loss

Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun talks to his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Georgetown, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, in Washington.

UConn Huskies men’s basketball head coach Jim Calhoun made some lineup changes to his team hoping to snap them out of their funk. For about three and a half minutes, the new look team made him look like a genius.

Then the old UConn team returned and went cold while the Georgetown Hoyas slowly took control of the game on their way to a 58-44 win in front of 15,174 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night.

It’s the fourth straight loss for the Huskies who fall to 14-7 (4-5 Big East). The Hoyas improve to 17-4 (7-3).

Andre Drummond led the way for the Huskies with 18 points and seven rebounds. Jeremy Lamb had an awful shooting night (4-18) but finished with 14 points and six rebounds. Ryan Boatright made his first start of the season and had four assists while not scoring a single point.

Hollis Thompson paced the Hoyas with 18 points and nine rebounds while Henry Sims added 13 points. Jason Clark chipped in with 11 points.

UConn looked like the team they were before the slump happened early on. They quickly jumped out to a 9-3 lead and it looked as though the offensive woes were gone. They would push their lead to 13-7 with 16:36 to go in the half. Then the wheels fell off the proverbial bus for the Huskies.

Fortunately while they were missing 10 straight shots, the Hoyas could only get four points over the next six minutes. UConn’s scoreless streak would come to an end when Lamb hit two free throws but unfortunately, the missed field goal streak would not.

Over the next three minutes, the Huskies would miss three more shots making it 13 in a row while the Hoyas went on a 7-0 run to take a three point lead at 18-15. Tyler Olander finally ended the almost 11 minute drought without a field goal when he made a layup with 5:59 to go in the half.

But the Hoyas closed out the half on a 13-4 run to take control of the game with a 31-21 lead.

UConn’s offensive woes carried over into the second half as they were never really able to challenge the Hoyas. They did get the lead down to six points at 45-39 on a DeAndre Daniels layup with just under eight minutes to go. That would be as close as the Huskies would get though the rest of the way as they went cold again.

Yes we know the Huskies are in a slump offensively right now. Honestly, other than Drummond, it doesn’t really look like any of them care out there. He looked to me to be the only giving a 100% out there on every play.

There really is no offensive leader and Kemba Walker isn’t going to be walking on that court to bail them out like he did last year.

Calhoun thought the lineup change would get them playing better and they did early. Then slowly the funk returned. They looked out of sync again running their half court set and at times it looked as though the guys didn’t know the plays. That is simply inexcusable at this point.

What can Calhoun do now?

He tried a lineup change and that didn’t work. Maybe he should start the walkons in the next game. Maybe that will wake this team up. This 2011-12 team is slowly reminding me of the team from Kemba’s sophomore year where it was a bunch of individuals (Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson).

The Huskies will look to end their four-game skid at home on Saturday afternoon when they’ll host the Seton Hall Pirates at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Tip is scheduled for 12 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally on SNY in Connecticut.

To continue reading the UConn Huskies @ Georgetown Hoyas recap, please click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Notes and musings:

UConn Huskies @ Georgetown Hoyas 2.1.12 box score

The 21 points at halftime was the lowest first half output for UConn since the 2011 NCAA Championship Game against Butler.

The starting five for the Huskies was Ryan Boatright, Jeremy Lamb, Niels Giffey, Roscoe Smith and Andre Drummond.

UConn shot 30% (18-60) from the floor in the game while the Hoyas shot 43.8% (21-48).

The Huskies had 11 assists on their 18 made baskets.

UConn was 2-of-20 (10%) from beyond the arc. Lamb was 2-of-11. Georgetown was 5-of-13 (38.5%).

The Huskies were 6-of-13 (46.2%) from the free throw line. Not that it mattered tonight but that can’t happen in Big East games.

The Hoyas won the battle of the boards, outrebounding UConn 38-35.

The Huskies outscored Georgetown 28-24 in the paint and 4-2 on the fast break.

UConn had 13 second chance points while the Hoyas had 10.

The Huskies had eight points off of 15 Hoyas turnovers. Georgetown had nine points off of 11 UConn turnovers.

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

Photo credit: AP Photo

UConn Football Signs 25 To Letters of Intent

UConn Huskies football coach Paul Pasqualoni announced his first recruiting class as head coach of the UConn Huskies on Wednesday afternoon. Remember folks, last year’s class wasn’t exactly his since most of the recruiting had been done by the guy who left for his “dream job” at Maryland.

Here’s the release from UConn:

UConn Huskies football helmetSTORRS, Conn. (Feb. 1, 2012) — UConn football coach Paul Pasqualoni has announced that 19 high school seniors signed National Letters of Intent on Tuesday to attend the University of Connecticut. The 19 seniors come from seven states with the following breakdown: Florida 5, New Jersey 5, Massachusetts 3, Maryland 2, Pennsylvania 2, Connecticut 1 and New York 1.

In addition, UConn had five new student-athletes enroll for the spring 2012 semester and received a signed financial aid agreement from a junior college transfer.

The following is a list of the high school seniors that signed Letters of Intent:

Name Pos. Height Weight Hometown/High School/Prep School
Battles-Santos, Brendan DE 6-3 250 Eastham, Mass/Nauset Regional
Bryan, Rennick C 6-2 319 New Haven, Conn./Hillhouse
Clax, Jazzmar FB-LB 5-11 236 Freehold, N.J./Neptune
Floyd, Jordan FS 6-1 205 Bel Air, Md./Loyola Blakefield
Green, John WR 5-11 175 Miami, Fla./Felix Varela
Gutierrez, Ricardo WR 6-1 170 Hialeah, Fla./American
Hicks, Jonathan LB 6-3 245 Palmyra, Penn./Palmyra
Levy, Richard OT 6-6 280 Trenton, N.J./Trenton Central
Marder, Ellis FS 6-1 185 Windermere, Fla./Lake Highland Prep
Melifonwu, Obi FS 6-3 194 South Grafton, Mass./Grafton
Myers, Mikal DT 6-0 300 Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy
Norris, Elijah DE 6-4 230 Upper Marlboro, Md./Archbishop Carroll
Puyol, Bobby K 6-0 170 North Palm Beach, Fla./Dwyer
Rugg, Zack OG 6-5 285 Windber, Pa./Bishop McCort
Samra, Tyler OG 6-3 250 Wycoff, N.J./Don Bosco
Stephens, Omaine LB 6-4 220 East Orange, N.J./East Orange Campus
Sylva, Jason LB 6-3 235 Marion, Mass./Plymouth South-Tabor Academy
Vinci, Wyatt LB-FB 6-3 238 Ridgewood, N.J./St. Joseph/Hun School
Williams, Jhavon CB 5-11 185 Wellington, Fla./Palm Beach Central

The following is a list of student-athletes that enrolled at UConn for the spring 2012 semester:

Name Pos. Height Weight Hometown/High School/Prep School or Community College
Bockeloh, Kyle C 6-2 286 Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek
Cochran, Casey QB 6-0 216 Monroe, Conn./Masuk
Ghio, Drew OG 6-1 297 Bristol, Conn./Bristol Central/Loomis Chaffee
Whitmer, Chandler QB 6-1 188 Newnan, Ga./Downers Grove (Ill.) South/Butler (Kan.) CC
Williams, Joseph TB 5-11 197 Allentown, Pa./Emmaus/Fork Union (Va.)

The following is the junior college transfer that signed a financial aid agreement:

Name Pos. Height Weight Hometown/High School/Community College
Shortell, Neil TE 6-3 250 Mission Hills, Kan./Butler (Kan.) CC

To learn more about the 25 new UConn Huskies football players, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

The following, in alphabetical order, are biographies are all Husky newcomers.

Brendan Battles-Santos Brendan Battles-Santos: Had 70 tackles his senior year with two sacks… played both defensive line and quarterback as a senior, running a single-wing offense as the lead blocker out of the backfield… named to the ESPN Boston All-State team and a Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Star… also an outstanding wrestler… was a Boston Herald All-Scholastic pick in wrestling… captured the sectional, Division I and All-State titles as a junior in the 215-pound weight division… reached the finals of the New England Championship… was third at the National High School Coaches Association tournament..born April 28, 1994.
Kyle Bockeloh: Enrolled at Connecticut for the spring 2012 semester and will participate in spring practice… played at Cypress Creek High School in Houston and graduated in the spring of 2011… team went 9-4 in his senior season and team won three playoff games to advance to the regional round of the 5A Division I championship… delayed his enrollment to college until this semester… earned Greater Houston Academic All-State honors and also participated in track and field..born October 20, 1992.
Rennick Bryan: Named to the Connecticut High School Coaches’ Association All-Star Football Team and the Walter Camp Football Foundation All-Connecticut Team..named to the Levi Jackson All-Star Team, honored by the New Haven Gridiron Club… also throws the shot put and discus in track and field… was All-Southern Connecticut Conference in the shot put… born December 1, 1993.
Jazzmar Clax: Led Neptune HS to its first Central Jersey Group 3 title since 1998… had 156 tackles (72 solo) with six sacks and a pair of forced fumbles… born August 23, 1993… was an Asbury Park Press All-Shore first team selection in each of the past two years… began his high school career at Freehold Borough HS and helped lead that school to the Group 3 title in 2010… born August 23, 1993.
Casey Cochran: Enrolled at Connecticut for the spring 2012 semester and will participate in spring practice… Gatorade Player of the Year in Connecticut for each of the past two seasons… named to the Connecticut High School Coaches’ Association All-Star Football Team and the Walter Camp Football Foundation All-Connecticut Team… holds the Connecticut high school career records for passing yards and completions… played his final two years of high school at Masuk and led the team to the Connecticut Class L title in 2010… started his scholastic career at New London HS and led the team to the state class SS title in 2008… born February 25, 1994.
Jordan Floyd: Named to All-Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association team.. named all-state honorable mention by the Baltimore Sun and was a second team All-Metro pick in 2010..as a junior had 700 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns and also had 70 tackles..played in the 2011 Maryland Crab Bowl on December 17 for the Baltimore team… also plays basketball and runs track and field in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash… born April 19, 1994.
Drew Ghio: Enrolled at Connecticut for the spring 2012 semester and will participate in spring practice… graduate of Bristol Central High School and spent the fall 2011 semester at the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Conn. … team captain at Bristol Central and earned team MVP honors… was an all-city and first team all-conference pick… honor roll student at both Bristol Eastern and Loomis… played for the Connecticut team in the 2010 Governors’ Cup All-Star Game… participated in track and basketball… born July 17, 1992.
John Green: Had 13 receptions for 186 yards and three TDs in 2011… had a 32.3 yards punting average as a senior… also runs track in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter events… born November 12, 1993.
Ricky Gutierrez: Wide receiver whose team played in regional semifinals of Florida Class 7A regional quarterfinals… son of former Major League Baseball player Ricky Gutierrez, who played for six teams from 1993-2004 and won a World Series ring with the ’04 Red Sox..born February 15, 1993.
Jonathan Hicks: Was named to the Pennsylvania Sports Writers Class AAA All-Star Team… Made 140 tackles, including 25 in one game, with 4.5 sacks as a senior in 2011 along with two blocked punts and two forced fumbles… played both inside linebacker and offensive line… will play in the Big 33 All-Star game (Pennsylvania vs. Ohio) on June 16 in Hershey, Pa. … will be first Palmyra HS player in that game since 1977 and is just one of four LBs for the Pennsylvania team… led high school team to a regular season record of 9-3, its best in four decades… team made its first-ever District Three playoff appearance and won a triple OT game in the first round… born December 10, 1993.
Richard Levy: Played both on the offensive and defensive line… also wrestles in high school… born September 12, 1992.
Ellis Marder: 2011 Central Florida all-star..Played defensive back in high school… team played in regional semifinals of Class 4A championship… born January 14, 1994.
Obi Melifonwu: Played both running back and defensive back in high school… rushed for 1,394 yards in senior year with 17 touchdowns… made 14 tackles on defense and had three interceptions..also had ten two-point conversions… named to the ESPN Boston All-State team… rushed for 320 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Leichester in 2011..is also a long jumper and triple jumper on the track team… born April 5, 1994.
Mikal Myers: Will played defensive tackle at UConn after playing on both the offensive and defensive line in high school… was named a first team Class AA selection on the offensive line by the New York Sportswriters Association… was second team in junior year… on defense as a senior, had 91 tackles with 14 for a loss and 10 sacks… team was 10-2 in senior year and advanced to championship game of NYSAPHSAA Class 4A tournament… team won its first Section 9 Class AA title since 2003… born August 14, 1994.
Elijah Norris: Was a receiver on offense and had 20 receptions for 440 yards and four TDs… also made 102 tackles with 16.0 sacks… had a 37.03 yards punting average… born July 4, 1994.
Bobby Puyol: Was a finalist for the Palm Beach (Fla.) Placekicker of the Year by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission… had career mark of 22-27 in field goals with a long of 54, to break a school record… was 189 for 198 on PATs and had a KO touchback percentage of 82%… first team all-conference 3A-4A as a senior and first team all-area by Orlando Sun Sentinel… third team all-state 7A… was 9 of 12 on field goals and 50 of 52 on extra points… also was the backup QB… team won three playoff games in Class 7A tournament as team made it to state semifinals and was regional champion… team went 50 games over his four-year HS career… first-team all-conference three times… team won state championship in sophomore year..also plays baseball… high school baseball coach was Frank Torre, Jr… .son of former major leaguer Frank Torre and nephew of legendary Joe Torre… son born August 17, 1993.
Zach Rugg: Had 72 tackles in senior year with two double-digit tackle games… also had 2.5 sacks… also played on the offensive line… named first team All-Area by the Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, Pa.)… also named to the Pennsylvania Sports Writers all-state team… team went 7-4 in senior season… as a junior had 99 tackles… in junior year, team went 8-5 and reached the District 6 Class A championship game… born February 16, 1994.
Tyler Samra: Helped team rush for 1,910 rushing yards and 1,194 passing yards in senior year… was named first-team all-state by the Newark Star-Ledger… team went 11-0 in senior year and won the New Jersey Non-Public Group 4 state championship… born December 23, 1993.
Neil Shortell: A junior college transfer from Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas… same junior college as UConn spring enrollee Chandler Whitmer… will have two years of eligibility over three at UConn… had four receptions for 60 yards and a TD as a tight end for Butler in 2011… was named All-Kansas Junior College Conference first team honors… Butler was the second-ranked junior college team nationally this past season… born July 9, 1991.
Omaine Stephens: Named All-Area by the News-Record (Maplewood and South Orange, N.J.)…also named First Team All-Group 4 by the Newark Star-Ledger and First Team All-Essex County…made 70 tackles as a senior (54 primary) with 13 sacks…born June 2, 1993.
Jason Sylva: Will play linebacker at Connecticut… made 72 tackles on defense with 22 for a loss and 10 sacks this past fall at Tabor Academy (Marion, Mass.)… .also rushed for 900 yards and 10 TDS… was a three-time All-Colonial League pick, a first team All-New England selection twice and a runner-up for the New England Player of the year as a senior… began his high school career at Plymouth South HS, earning Atlantic Coast League honorable mention all-conference honors in football and basketball… his father, Ed, played football at Boston State (now UMass-Boston)… his uncle, Bob, played football at Norwich with current UConn DC Don Brown… born July 14, 1992.
Wyatt Vinci: Attended same prep school as current Husky wide receiver Nick Williams… played high school football at St. Joseph HS in Montvale, N.J… born January 9, 1993.
Jhavon Williams: Team went 7-4 in senior season and played in the regional quarterfinals of the Florida Class 8A championship… played in the Florida Atlantic Coaches’ Association North-South All-Star game following his senior season… started his high school career at American Heritage HS… born January 20, 1993.
Joseph Williams: Enrolled at Connecticut for the spring 2012 semester and will participate in spring practice… spent the fall 2011 semester at Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy after graduating from Emmaus High School in the spring of 2011… .at Emmaus, rushed for 1,243 yards as a senior and was a second team all-area pick… first team All-Lehigh Valley Conference selection… was a track standout winning the LVC outdoor track titles in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash… born September 4, 1993.
Chandler Whitmer: Enrolled at Connecticut for the spring 2012 semester and will participate in spring practice… will have three years of eligibility at Connecticut… originally enrolled at Illinois in the fall of 2010 and was a redshirt… named to The Champaign News-Gazette’s All-State team following his senior year of high school at Downers Grove (Ill.) South… earned all state and all-area honors… spent the 2011 fall semester at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas… was 180 for 316 in the air for 3,022 yards this past season with 25 TDs and 14 interceptions… was named All-Kansas Junior College Conference first team honors… named National Junior College Athletic Association All-American honorable mention… Butler was the second-ranked junior college team nationally this past season… born August 16, 1991.

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Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 2/1

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

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 men’s basketball team as they are in Washington, D.C. to take on the Georgetown Hoyas at the Verizon Center. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

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

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Inside Look at Tilton School [David Borges – New Haven Haven Register]

Lineup Shake-Up: Boatright, Roscoe to Start [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Jim Calhoun: Doing What’s Best For The Team [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Calhoun makes signifcant lineup changes [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Notes/Quotes from Jan. 31: “If we don’t push the pace, we can’t win.” [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Game preview: UConn men at Georgetown [Lee Lewis – The Republican-American]

Calhoun shakes up lineup: Boatright, Smith will start [Neill Ostrout – Journal Inquirer]

Boatright replaces Napier in UConn’s starting lineup [CT Post]

Jim Calhoun  Shakes Up UConn Lineup; Boatright, Smith In; Napier, Oriakhi Out [Hartford Courant]

Huskies to shake up lineup [New Haven Register]

Huskies shaking things up against No. 14 Georgetown [The Day]

UConn men’s basketball glance [The Hour]

Reigning Champions May Not Get an Invite to Dance [Wall Street Journal]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Doty’s play a positive for Huskies [CT Post]

After Impressive Win At Duke, UConn Looks Forward To Break [Hartford Courant]

Kiah Stokes gives Huskies a lift [New Haven Register]

UConn Football links

CBS Analyst Dismisses UConn’s Low Marks From Internet Recruiting Sites [Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

M. Ice Hockey. Men’s Hockey Drops Two Goal Lead To Princeton; Falls 4-3 [UConnHuskies.com]

Softball, Soccer, Baseball. “Stadium Enhancement/Construction” Funds Established [UConnHuskies.com]

Herbst Says AD Could Be Hired Within Month [Hartford Courant]

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

2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Rankings – Week 12 (Jan. 31)

AP & ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls

The NCAA women’s basketball rankings are out for the week and the UConn Huskies remain as the No. 3 team in the land. In fact, their only two losses of the season are to the two teams above them.

The Baylor Lady Bears are still No. 1 and they are followed by Notre Dame, UConn and Stanford. The fifth team in the AP Poll is Duke while the fifth ranked team in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll is the Kentucky Wildcats.

Joining the Irish and Huskies in the top 25 from the Big East are the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (13/14), Louisville Cardinals (14/12) and Georgetown Hoyas (17/15). The DePaul Blue Demons are ranked No. 23 in the coaches poll but are among the others receiving votes in the AP Poll.

The St. John’s Red Storm are the only team from the Big East among the others receiving votes in both polls. The South Florida Bulls are among the others receiving votes in the coaches poll.

For a complete look at the 2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Rankings – Week 12 (Jan. 31), click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

AP Top 25 ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll
RK TEAM REC PTS PVS RK TEAM REC PTS PVS
1 Baylor (40) 21-0 1,000 1 1 Baylor (31) 21-0 775 1
2 Notre Dame 21-1 960 2 2 Notre Dame 21-1 742 2
3 Connecticut 20-2 916 3 3 Connecticut 20-2 712 3
4 Stanford 18-1 882 4 4 Stanford 18-1 684 4
5 Duke 17-3 834 5 5 Kentucky 20-2 642 6
6 Kentucky 20-2 808 6 6 Duke 17-3 621 5
7 Miami (FL) 19-3 738 10 7 Miami (FL) 19-3 588 8
8 Tennessee 16-5 693 7 8 Tennessee 16-5 528 9
9 Maryland 18-3 635 8 9 Green Bay 19-0 501 9
10 Green Bay 19-0 615 12 10 Maryland 18-3 493 7
11 Ohio State 20-2 614 9 11 Ohio State 20-2 454 9
12 Delaware 18-1 520 15 12 Louisville 17-4 441 14
13 Rutgers 17-4 516 11 13 Delaware 18-1 382 16
14 Louisville 17-4 501 16 14 Rutgers 17-4 372 12
15 Purdue 18-4 407 13 15 Georgetown 17-5 338 18
16 Nebraska 18-3 400 19 16 Texas A&M 14-5 333 13
17 Georgetown 17-5 378 20 17 Purdue 18-4 244 17
18 Texas A&M 14-5 352 14 18 Nebraska 18-3 226 21
19 Penn State 16-5 221 18 19 Gonzaga 19-3 219 20
20 Gonzaga 19-3 217 22 20 Georgia 16-6 182 15
21 Georgia 16-6 154 17 21 Penn State 16-5 154 19
22 Brigham Young 20-3 136 23 22 Georgia Tech 16-6 104 24
23 North Carolina 16-5 94 25 23 DePaul 16-6 86 22
24 Georgia Tech 16-6 79 NR 24 North Carolina 16-5 53 25
25 Texas Tech 15-5 70 21 25 Kansas 16-4 45 NR
Dropped from rankings: Dropped from rankings:
DePaul 23 Texas Tech 23
Others receiving votes: Others receiving votes:
St. Bonaventure 61, DePaul 53, South Carolina 48, California 18, Kansas State 13, Arkansas 12, Princeton 11, St. John’s 9, FGCU 8, Oklahoma 6, Kansas 5, San Diego State 5, UTEP 4, Fresno State 4, Vanderbilt 2, Michigan State 1 Texas Tech 30, Vanderbilt 23, St. Bonaventure 19, Middle Tennessee 15, FGCU 14, South Carolina 13, California 12, Brigham Young 8, Michigan State 6, UNLV 3, UTEP 3, Princeton 3, Fresno State 2, Kansas State 2, St. John’s 2, South Florida 1

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Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 1/31

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

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

From Best to Worst: Ranking UConn’s First 20 Games [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Who is Afraid of Enosch Wolf? [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Struggling Huskies Need To Turn It Around Now [Hartford Courant]

Bobcats encouraged by Kemba Walker’s progress [Norwich Bulletin]

The Sibling Superstars of Park Slope [NY Magazine]

Saving Freshman Ryan [NY Times]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

A true team effort for Huskies [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Doty delivers in Duke win [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Auriemma Gave Hayes A “Technical” Knockout [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Time For A Short Rest [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Emptying Out The Mental Notebook [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Hayes Shakes Off Collision, Passes Tests And Returns To Game [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Stokes Comes Up Big In Reserve For The Huskies [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

No. 3 UConn women seize win over No. 5 Duke [CT Post]

Stokes Steps Up In 61-45 Victory Over Duke [Hartford Courant]

Hayes Named Big East Player Of Week [Hartford Courant]

Hartley, Huskies handle Duke on road [New Haven Register]

Former Bridgeport Central star Nadine Domond a mentor to Duke’s Elizabeth Williams [New Haven Register]

The Sibling Superstars of Park Slope [NY Magazine]

UConn win provides few answers [Mechelle Voepel – ESPN.com]

UConn Football links

Big East vs. BCS in 2011 [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

How 2011 All-Big East team fared as recruits [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

UConn Football Roster Moves [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

UConn Hopes More Competition Will Create Better Offense [Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

M. Ice Hockey. Garrett Bartus Named AHA Goaltender of the Week [UConnHuskies.com]

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Strong Defensive Effort Helps UConn Women to 61-45 over Duke

Tiffany Hayes had been on a roll as of late for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team. Stefanie Dolson hadn’t been playing so bad lately herself.

But with Hayes missing a part of the game with a head injury and Dolson spending a quality amount of time on the bench in foul trouble, Geno Auriemma needed others to step up to help out.

He got exactly that as his Huskies played another dominant defensive game in a 61-45 win over the Duke Blue Devils in front of 8.033 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC and nationally televised audience on ESPN2 Monday night.

The No. 3 Huskies improve to 20-2 while the No. 5 Blue Devils fall to 17-3. It’s the fourth straight win for UConn over Duke and it also ended their 34-game winning streak. Ironically enough, the last time Duke lost at home was to the Huskies two years ago.

UConn's Bria Hartley shoots under pressure from Duke's Elizabeth Williams.Bria Hartley led the Huskies with 15 points and seven assists while pulling down five rebounds. Caroline Doty chipped in with 11 points while Dolson had 10 points in just 13 minutes of action. Kiah Stokes continues to impress as of late and it was her play in the post that helped UConn to the win. She finished with just four points but had 12 rebounds and tied her career-high with five blocked shots.

Despite shooting 5-of-17 from the floor, Chelsea Gray paced the Blue Devils with 13 points, six assists, six steals and had seven rebounds. Richa Jackson added 11 points and nine rebounds while Elizabeth Williams had 10 points. Haley Peters had also had nine rebounds to go along with nine points.

This one was close early on before UConn opened up a five point lead at 13-8 with 5-0 run. Two free throws by Hartley pushed UConn’s lead to seven at 17-10. A few minutes later, a Gray three cut the Huskies lead to four at 19-15 with 8:44 to go.

But the Huskies would quickly push the lead to ten points with a 6-0 before a Peters jumper ended that. UConn followed that up though with another 6-0 run to increase their lead to 14 at 31-17. UConn would go cold though for the rest of the half as the Blue Devils ended the half with a 6-0 run to trail 31-23 at the half.

Duke would get the lead down to five early on in the second half before Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis would hit a three that was part of a 8-0 run that gave UConn control of the game. After cutting UConn’s lead to 11 on two Williams free throws with 11:54 to go in the game, Kelly Faris nailed a three and from there, Duke would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

It’s been great to see Stokes continue to get better with each game she played. What she was lacking offensively, she made up for on the defensive end. She gave fellow freshman Williams a hard time under the basket, making it difficult for her to score. And this was definitely needed with Dolson in foul trouble.

The Huskies will have another tough game on their hands on Saturday night when the Rutgers Scarlet Knights come to Gampel Pavilion. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally in Connecticut on CPTV.

To continue reading the UConn Huskies @ Duke Blue Devils recap, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Notes and musings:

UConn Huskies @ Duke Blue Devils 1.30.12 box score

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

UConn shot 45.1% (23-51) from the floor. They held Duke to their lowest field goal percentage of the year at 24.6% (17-69).

The Huskies had 17 assists on their 23 made baskets.

UConn was 7-of-18 (38.9%) beyond the arc. The Blue Devils were 5-of-15 (33.3%).

The Huskies were 8-of-11 (72.7%) from the free throw line.

UConn won the battle of the boards 44-38. Duke did have 15 offensive rebounds to just seven for the Huskies.

The Huskies outscored the Blue Devils 24-14 in the paint and 9-4 on the fast break.

Even with their 15 offensive rebounds, the Blue Devils only had two second chance points. UConn had three.

The Huskies had 13 points off of 15 Duke turnovers. The Blue Devils had 12 points off of 21 UConn turnovers.

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Photo credit: Cloe Poisson – Hartford Courant (No. 13 in gallery)