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 Milwaukee, WI for a matchup with the Marquette Golden Eagles. Tip is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally in CT on CPTV.

It’s also game day for the UConn men’s basketball team as they’ll host the No. 2 Syracuse Orange at Gampel Pavilion. Tip is scheduled for 9 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

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UConn Women’s Basketball links

Huskies Take On Marquette At 5 On Saturday [UConnHuskies.com]

Mosqueda-Lewis would like to take her game inside more [CT Post]

Even Late In Season, Auriemma Says UConn Has Work To Do [Hartford Courant]

Hayes Moving Up On Scoring List [Hartford Courant]

Valuable possessions [Journal Inquirer]

Huskies looking to help out post players [New Haven Register]

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

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Digger Phelps: Has Jim Calhoun Passed Enough Stress Tests? [Don Amore – Hartford Courant]

UConn Practice: Notes, Quotes, Thoughts From Gampel [Don Amore – Hartford Courant]

To Beat ‘Cuse, Oriakhi, Drummond Must Play Big [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Gampel Gearing Up for Gameday [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Oriakhi: ‘Gampel Will Be Our Sixth Man’ [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Notes/Quotes from Feb. 24: “I think it would definitely stop the bubble talk and give us a spot in the tournament.” [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks about Huskies [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Is this a production for ya? [Neill Ostrout – Journal Inquirer]

Mike Borkoswki is a Syracuse-based artist who has put in a superhuman effort over the years making… [The UConn Blog]

Five Keys to Beating Syracuse [UConn Huskies Basketball]

UConn pinning its tournament hopes on Syracuse [CT Post]

A Festive Atmosphere For Syracuse-UConn [Hartford Courant]

Bright lights, big moment for UConn [Journal Inquirer]

Stakes are raised with Syracuse in town [New Haven Register]

Will UConn add to its greatest hits list? [The Day]

UConn Men’s Basketball Glance — vs. Syracuse [The Hour]

Source: Jim Calhoun planning for return [Andy Katz – ESPN.com]

What’s wrong with UConn? (PDF) [Matt Giles – ESPN Insider]

How UConn can make another run (PDF) [Doug Gottleib – ESPN Insider]

UConn Football links

Big East position rankings: Special teams [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

UConn Football Junior Day Saturday, A Look At Some Of The Visitors [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

UConn At The NFL Combine: Wide Receiver Kashif Moore [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

Baseball. Huskies Start Cougar Invitational With 7-2 Win Over Xavier [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Ice Hockey. Huskies Clinch Home Ice In Playoffs With 3-3 Tie at AIC [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Track. Huskies Sit In First Place After Day One Of New England Championships [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Track. Huskies Send 14 To Finals Of New England Championships [UConnHuskies.com]

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With some time off for the weekend due to the NBA All-Star festivities, former UConn Huskies men’s basketball player and current Memphis Grizzlies small forward Rudy Gay will be heading back to Storrs. The reason?

He’ll be inducted into the “Huskies of Honor”. According to Kyle Muncy of UConn, Ben Gordon and Caron Butler will be honored next year.

Here’s the release from UConn:

STORRS, Conn. – Former University of Connecticut men’s basketball standout Rudy Gay will be inducted into the “Huskies of Honor” at the men’s basketball game vs. Syracuse on Saturday. The “Huskies of Honor” program began during the 2006-07 season and pays tribute in Gampel Pavilion to the top players, coaches and contributors in UConn men’s and women’s basketball history.

Gay is one of the most decorated players in UConn basketball history. He was a First Team All-American and All-BIG EAST performer in 2005-06, as well as the BIG EAST and National Freshman of the Year in 2004-05. He is currently in his sixth season in the NBA as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies.

As a sophomore in 2005-06, he was named First Team All-American by the NABC and the Rupp Award and one of four finalists for the Naismith National Player of the Year Award. He was named a Second Team All-American by the Associated Press, USBWA and ESPN.com. Gay earned All-BIG EAST, All-NABC and All-USBWA All-District First Teams. He was named to the NCAA Washington, D.C. Regional All-Tournament team as the Huskies advanced to the Elite Eight.

As a freshman in 2004-2005, he was named the National Freshman of the Year by The Sporting News, the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and a unanimous All-Rookie Team selection.

The addition of Gay to the “Huskies of Honor” induction list increases the total number of UConn men’s basketball honorees to 21.

Players (17): Walt Dropo, Vin Yokabaskas, Art Quimby, Toby Kimball, Wes Bialosuknia, Tony Hanson, Corny Thompson, Clifford Robinson, Chris Smith, Donyell Marshall, Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Emeka Okafor, Kemba Walker, Worthy Patterson, Bill Corley, Rudy Gay.

Coaches (3): Hugh Greer, Dee Rowe, Jim Calhoun.

Contributors (1): John Toner-Director of Athletics.

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Photo credit: AP Photo

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 At Home … Surprisingly Calm, Collected [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

What is the loudest you’ve ever heard Gampel Pavilion? [The UConn Blog]

Manchester Girls Basketball Player Keirstyn Schumpert (DeAndre Daniels sister) Diagnosed With Tumor [Hartford Courant]

Autism Is Jim Calhoun’s Biggest Opponent [Hartford Courant]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Geno Auriemma Talks About His Future [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Faris Likes Huskies’ Response Post-S.J. John’s, Not The Turnovers [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Team USA Exhibition Schedule Announced [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Geno talks about parity [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

UConn recruit honored [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Auriemma Ponders His Next Contract [Hartford Courant]

UConn Football links

Big East position rankings: DB [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

UConn: From The NFL Combine [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Dave Teggart Hopes To Impress At NFL Combine [Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

Baseball. Baseball Set for Cougar Invitational [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Ice Hockey. Huskies To Close Out Regular Season With Pair Against AIC [UConnHuskies.com]

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

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

The Big East, as it stands [Neill Ostrout – Journal Inquirer]

During a difficult UConn stretch, Ollie always giving to players [CT Post]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Big East Stretch Drive Begins Saturday [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Temple Of Basketball For Big East [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

UConn Women Strive To Get Focus Back [Hartford Courant]

Weekend warriors no match for elite women [espnW]

UConn Football links

Big East position rankings: LB [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Video: Big East players at NFL combine [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

DC answered a question in his mailbag [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Three Huskies At NFL Combine; Four Play In All-Star Games [UConnHuskies.com]

Ex-UConn coach Edsall a national punching bag [CT Post]

Other UConn related links

W. Tennis. Women’s Tennis Drops Pair To BIG EAST Foes [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Soccer. Women’s Soccer Announces 2012 Recruiting Class [UConnHuskies.com]

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

The fundraising for athletics at the University of Connecticut continues as the school announced on Wednesday that a former UConn Huskies student-athlete has pledged $3 million to go towards the construction of a new soccer stadium.

One interesting thing to note about this is the fact that when Jeff Hathaway was the AD, he didn’t get these type of donations. So a big tip of the ol’ ball cap goes to interim AD Paul Pendergast for his tremendous fundraising efforts.

Here’s the release from UConn:

STORRS, Conn. – The University of Connecticut Division of Athletics has received a commitment of $3 million toward the construction of a new soccer stadium on the Storrs campus. The pledge was made by a former UConn student-athlete, who wishes to remain anonymous. The first $1 million is an outright gift and the remaining $2 million will be given over the next five years.

The gift will be directed to the “Morrone Stadium Enhancement Fund.” The detailed scope of the project is still to be determined.

“We are grateful that a former UConn student-athlete has given back to the University and the sport of soccer,” said UConn Interim Director of Athletics Paul Pendergast. “Our men’s and women’s soccer teams are nationally-competitive programs. It is critical that they have facilities comparable to peer institutions, in order to maintain UConn’s standard of excellence.

“I also wish to acknowledge Coach Ray Reid’s ongoing participation in our fundraising efforts for this project, which helped us secure this historic commitment for our soccer programs.”

UConn now has more than $4.5 million in pledges earmarked for this soccer facility project.

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UConn Huskies men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun has been away from the team for their last six games as he battles with spinal stenosis. But after meeting with his doctor on Wednesday, it looks as though he may get some relief through a surgical procedure.

Calhoun will undergo the procedure on Monday and have to spend a night or two in the hospital. So for the time being, he’ll miss Saturday’s game against Syracuse and next Tuesday’s game in Providence. Whether or not he returns for the finale, will be up to him and his doctors.

Here’s the full release from UConn:

STORRS, Conn. – University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun will undergo a surgical procedure Monday to help alleviate the spinal stenosis that has forced him to take a medical leave of absence.

Calhoun is expected to be hospitalized for one or two nights, followed by a recovery period at home. He will not coach the Huskies’ games against Syracuse on Saturday or at Providence on Tuesday, the seventh and eighth games that the Hall of Fame coach has missed due to the lower back condition. His coaching status will then be evaluated on a day-to-day basis.

“I’m glad we have finally determined the best course of treatment to deal with the problem,” Calhoun said. “I’m looking forward to having the procedure done, hopefully recovering as quickly as possible, and putting it all in the past.”

The Huskies play host to Pittsburgh in their final regular-season game on March 3 at Gampel Pavilion. Postseason play begins with the BIG EAST Championship on March 6-10 in New York City.

Associate head coach George Blaney will continue in charge of the team in Calhoun’s absence, with Kevin Ollie, Glen Miller, and Karl Hobbs serving as assistant coaches.

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Photo credit: AP Photo

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

Dom answered a few questions in his mailbag [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

UConn On The Bubble: Feb. 21 [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

ESPN College GameDay Comes To Storrs Saturday [UConnHuskies.com]

Jim Calhoun To Meet With Doctor On Wednesday [Hartford Courant]

Roscoe Smith integral part of Villanova victory [New Haven Register]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Cause Of Death: UConn [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Big East Still a Big Mish-Mosh [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Winning Is Fundamental – At Least, For UConn [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

UConn women demolish Pitt [CT Post]

UConn Women Reassert Dominance At Panthers’ Expense [Hartford Courant]

Huskies Show Improvement In Shots From Perimeter [Hartford Courant]

Huskies start a new winning streak [New Haven Register]

UConn Football links

Big East position rankings: DL [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Revised 2011 Top 25 countdown: No. 16 Trevardo Williams [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

DC answered a question in his mailbag [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Hometown Hopefuls: Kendall Reyes [CSNNE.com]

Hometown Hopefuls: Kashif Moore [CSNNE.com]

Other UConn related links

W. Lacrosse. Brittney Testa Named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week [UConnHuskies.com]

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

The St. John’s Red Storm exposed weaknesses in the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team in their win on Saturday night. So you almost had to feel bad for whomever the Huskies were playing their next time out because you know they were going to come to play.

Unfortunately for the Pittsburgh Panthers, it just happened that they fell next on UConn’s schedule.

Kaleena Mosqueda Lewis led the way with 23 points to help UConn to a very easy 86-37 win over Pitt in front of 2,095 at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA on Tuesday night.

UConn improves to 25-3 (12-2 Big East) while the Panthers fall to 8-19 (0-14).

KML got her 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting including going 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Tiffany Hayes added 13 points while Bria Hartley had 10 points and five assists.

Kelly Faris had a spectacular all-around game with eight points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Caroline Doty led the Huskies with nine assists to go along with her two points.

Brianna Kiesel paced the Panthers with 15 points but turned the ball over eight times. Ashlee Anderson was the only other member of Pitt to reach double digits with 10 points. Leeza Burdgess put up a donut on the scoreboard but led the Panthers with seven rebounds.

As soon as the ball was tipped in this game, it was pretty much over.

UConn started out the game on a 29-4 run that included 10 straight points from KML. The only question that needed to be answered in the first half was whether or not Pitt would get to double figures in the half.

They did. They had 10 points in the first half but unfortunately UConn had 48.

This was a nice bounce back win for the Huskies even if they were playing an inferior opponent. This was perhaps one of their finer games this season.

They were outstanding on the defensive end as their pressure was relentless. They were hustling all over the place for loose balls and were dominating on the glass. UConn will need to keep up this type of intensity for their final two games of the regular season as they are playing for seeding in the Big East Tournament.

Depending on how the final two games play out, the Huskies could be seeded anywhere from first to third in the tournament. What they need to do is win their final two games and let everything else play out.

First up will be a trip to Milwaukee, WI on Saturday afternoon when they’ll take on the Marquette Golden Eagles. Tip is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on CPTV.

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

Notes and musings:

UConn Huskies @ Pittsburgh Panthers 2.21.12 box score

UConn has now gone 683 games without losses in consecutive games. They are 48-0 during that streak.

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

UConn shot 61.4% (35-57) from the floor while the Panthers shot 24% (12-50).

The Huskies had 27 assists on their 35 made baskets.

UConn was 8-of-15 (53.3%) from beyond the arc. Pitt was 1-of-14 (7.1%).

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

UConn dominated the glass, outrebounding the Panthers 38-24.

The Huskies had 13 steals.

UConn outscored Pitt 40-8 in the paint and 18-4 on the fast break.

The Huskies had 14 second chance points to six for the Panthers.

UConn’s bench outscored Pitt’s 45-6.

The Huskies had 24 points off of 21 Panthers turnovers. Pitt had eight points off of 13 UConn turnovers.

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Photo credit: Bettina Hansen – Hartford Courant (No. 3 in gallery)

After months of indecision and not coming to an agreement on compensation for Theo Epstein, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs passed the matter on to MLB commissioner Bud Selig a few weeks ago. But before Selig could reach his decision, the two sides finally agreed to a deal.

As compensation for Epstein, the Red Sox will receive RHP Chris Carpenter, no not the one who won the NL Cy Young, and a player to be named later in exchange for a player to be named later. To make room for Carpenter on the 40-man roster, the Red Sox have placed Bobby Jenks on the 60-day DL.

Here’s the release from the Red Sox:

The Boston Red Sox today acquired right-handed pitcher Chris Carpenter and a player to be named later from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later. To make room for Carpenter on the 40-man roster, the Red Sox placed right-handed pitcher Bobby Jenks on the 60-day disabled list as he recovers from back surgery.

With the trade, the compensation for Theo Epstein joining the Cubs as the team’s President of Baseball Operations is complete. The transaction has been agreed upon by both clubs.

Carpenter, 26, made his Major League debut with Chicago in 2011 and posted a 2.79 ERA (3 ER/9.2 IP) over his 10 games with the Cubs, all out of the bullpen. He limited left-handed batters to a .143 average (2-for-14) and held opponents scoreless in eight of 10 outings. The right-hander also combined for 32 relief appearances between Chicago’s Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa clubs last year, going 3-4 with two saves and a 5.91 ERA (28 ER/42.2 IP) between the two stops.

Selected by the Cubs in the third round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, Carpenter owns a 21-19 record, two saves, a 3.62 ERA (137 ER/341.0 IP) and 289 strikeouts in 96 career minor league games (60 starts) in Chicago?s system. He started 60 of his first 64 professional outings and has appeared in relief in each of his last 42.

Carpenter led all Cubs minor leaguers with a 2.82 ERA (41 ER/130.2 IP) in 2009 and was named an Arizona Fall League Rising Star in 2010.

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The ‘boys of summer’ will return to TBS as the network opens its 26-game Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season schedule on Sunday, April 8, with the Tampa Bay Rays hosting their American League East division rival the New York Yankees. The “Sunday MLB on TBS” schedule for 2012, which includes match-ups on the network every Sunday afternoon throughout the regular season, includes multiple appearances by the New York Yankees (April 8, April 29 and May 6) and the Boston Red Sox (April 15, May 20 and May 27). The schedule will also feature a rematch of the 2011 ALCS when Josh Hamilton and the two-time defending AL champion Texas Rangers visit Prince Fielder and the Detroit Tigers on April 22 at 1 p.m. (ET). Other highlights of the early schedule include:

• April 8: The “Sunday MLB on TBS” schedule gets underway with Derek Jeter and the Yankees taking on Evan Longoria and the Tampa Bay Rays (1:30 p.m. ET).
• May 13: A National League showdown featuring the 2011 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals hosting the Atlanta Braves (2 p.m. ET).
• May 20: Interleague match-up between two star-studded squads when Adrian Gonzalez and the Red Sox visit Hunter Pence and the Philadelphia Phillies (1:30 p.m. ET).

The network will also exclusively televise the 2012 MLB All-Star Selection Show on Sunday, July 1. In October, TBS will once again provide exclusive coverage of all four MLB Division Series (DS) and the American League Championship Series (ALCS). The network will announce future games on its schedule coinciding with its selection windows.

2012 SUNDAY MLB ON TBS SCHEDULE

TBS has broadcast MLB coverage for more than 30 years serving as the exclusive home of the MLB Division Series (DS) and one League Championship Series (LCS) since 2007 and home of Atlanta Braves coverage from 1977 to 2007.

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