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

UConn-DePaul, the day after [Neill Ostrout – Journal Inquirer]

Patterson, Corley Inducted Into Huskies of Honor [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn Men: Perception Vs. Reality [Hartford Courant]

DeAndre Daniels Starting To Show Spark For UConn [Hartford Courant]

UConn strides to qualify for tournament [WTNH.com]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Shooting The Big East Breeze [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

FYI: UConn Notebook [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Senior Day Big For 100 Reasons [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Huskies Eyeing 100 Straight Wins At Home [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Some number crunching on UConn’s home dominance [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Unchartered territory [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Geno likes talks about Tiffany Hayes’ pro potential [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Women’s Basketball Fan Advisement [UConnHuskies.com]

Winning at home what UConn women believe they should always do [CT Post]

UConn Women Can Reach A Milestone On Saturday [Hartford Courant]

Home has been sweet for Huskies 99 straight times [New Haven Register]

UConn Football links

Kiper mock draft features Reyes [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Huskies Should Be Fine At Safety, Young Though [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

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

Jerome Junior Dismissed From UConn Football Team [Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

If you think we’re above sharing a video of a husky running in a massive exercise wheel, then you… [The UConn Blog]

Softball. Softball Starts 2012 At Georgia Classic On Friday [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball. Baseball Opens 2012 Campaign at Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge This Weekend [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Track. Huskies Set For BIG EAST Championship [UConnHuskies.com]

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

Here’s the release from the Boston Red Sox announcing the signings of two minor league free agents, 1B Mauro Gomez and RHP Ross Ohlendorf to minor league deals. Both received non-roster invites to spring training. Also the club announced their complete list of non-roster invitees.

BOSTON, MA—The Boston Red Sox today announced the signings of free agents first baseman Mauro Gomez and right-handed pitcher Ross Ohlendorf to 2012 minor league contracts with invites to Boston’s Major League Spring Training camp as non-roster players.  Both have been placed on the Triple-A Pawtucket roster.

The club also announced that 24 players overall will attend the team’s Major League Spring Training camp as non-roster invitees.

The announcements were made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington.

Gomez, 27, played the entire 2011 season with Atlanta’s Triple-A Gwinnett affiliate and led the International League with 264 total bases, batting .304 (154-for-506) with 34 doubles, two triples, 24 home runs and 90 RBI in a career-high 135 games.  He also placed among circuit leaders in batting average (10^th), hits (2^nd), doubles (5^th), home runs (T-3^rd), RBI (4^th), slugging percentage (4^th, .522), extra-base hits (2^nd, 60) and runs scored (4^th, 76).  A native of the Dominican Republic, Gomez signed with Texas as a non-drafted free agent in 2003 and has hit .274 (806-for-2,940) with 192 doubles, 11 triples, 108 homers and 468 RBI in 775 games over nine minor league seasons in the Rangers (2003-09) and Braves (2010-11) organizations.  This offseason, the right-handed batter played 40 games with Toros del Este and Leones Escogido of the Dominican Winter League, placing third in the league with 23 walks, and hit .317 (32-for-101) with six homers and 23 RBI in 27 playoff games for Escogido.

Ohlendorf, 29, started nine games for the Pirates in 2011 but spent the majority of the season on the disabled list.  He also combined for a 1-1 record with a 3.65 ERA (15 ER/37.0 IP) in seven minor league starts, including six rehab outings, and posted a 3.33 ERA (9 ER/24.1 IP) in four starts with Triple-A Indianapolis overall.  Over the previous two seasons from 2009-10, he led Pittsburgh starters with a 3.98 ERA (126 ER/285.0 IP).  Selected by the Diamondbacks in the fourth round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft out of Princeton University, Ohlendorf has gone 14-28 with a 4.77 ERA (208 ER/392.2 IP) and 273 strikeouts in 95 appearances (64 starts) over parts of five Major League seasons with the Yankees (2007-08) and Pirates (2008-11).

The complete list of non-roster invitees includes left-handed pitchers Jesse Carlson, Rich Hill and Justin Thomas; right-handers Scott Atchison, Aaron Cook, Brandon Duckworth, Justin Germano, Will Inman, Doug Mathis, Ross Ohlendorf, Vicente Padilla, Tony Pena Jr., Carlos Silva, Chorye Spoone and Alex Wilson; catchers Daniel Butler and Max St. Pierre; outfielders Alex Hassan, Josh Kroeger, Juan Carlos Linares and Jason Repko; and infielders Pedro Ciriaco, Mauro Gomez and Nate Spears.

Seventeen of the 24 invitees have Major League experience, including Atchison, Carlson, Ciriaco, Cook, Duckworth, Germano, Hill, Kroeger, Mathis, Ohlendorf, Padilla, Pena, Repko, Silva, Spears, St. Pierre and Thomas.  Atchison, Hill and Spears all saw action for the Red Sox in 2011.

Pitchers and catchers will participate in their first on-field workout at the Fenway South Player Development Complex in Lee County on Tuesday, February 21.  The first full squad workout of the Red Sox Spring Training camp is on Saturday, February 25.

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

The UConn Huskies football team’s secondary took a hit on Thursday when it was announced that safety Jerome Junior had been suspended by the school.

Here’s the release from UConn:

STORRS, Conn. (February 16, 2012)  – University of Connecticut safety Jerome Junior (Baltimore, Md.) has been suspended from the team for a violation of team rules. He is no longer enrolled at the University and will not be for the fall 2012 semester as well. Junior was to be a redshirt senior this fall. He had 60 tackles in 2011, which was fourth on the team. The University will have no further comment on this matter.

According to Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant, Junior was not suspended for anything criminal but rather something had been stirring over a while. UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni wouldn’t get into specifics with DC but passed along this statement:

“The message is that we have program policies, we have a very, very high level of expectation of our players in many areas and one of those areas is behavior — whether it be on campus, off campus, in the meeting room, on the practice field, at the game — we’re not going to accept anything but appropriate behavior,” Pasqualoni said. “It was a violation, for me, it was a violation of what’s expected here in the football program, and we can’t accept it.”

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

Photo credit: John Woike – Hartford Courant

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 Gampel [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Dom also answered a question in his mailbag [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Jim Who? Blaney’s Halftime Rant Fired Up UConn [David Borges – New Haven Register]

the wrap [Ed Daigneault – The Republican-American]

Notes/Quotes from DePaul: “He’s like Gronkowski. He catches everything.” [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Post-game breakdown, video: DePaul [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Does George Blaney have to… [Neill Ostrout – Journal Inquirer]

No Wiggle Room [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Huskies Get Their Rhythm Back [UConnHuskies.com]

Inspired by Allen, UConn rolls past DePaul [CT Post]

UConn men: What we learned [CT Post]

UConn Powers Past DePaul, 80-54 [Hartford Courant]

Calhoun To Miss At Least Two More Games [Hartford Courant]

Players Learning The Trouble With Tweets [Hartford Courant]

Huskies end slide, beating DePaul 80-54 [New Haven Register]

Blaney explodes, and so does UConn [The Day]

It’s an up-and-down year at UConn [The Hour]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

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

UConn coach Auriemma visits Bakersfield to watch Ridgeview’s McCall [Bakersfield.com]

Other UConn related links

M. Cross Country. Men’s Cross Country Selected As All-Academic Team [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Swimming. BIG EAST Swmming Championships Underway [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Swimming. BIG EAST Swimming Finishes First Day [UConnHuskies.com]

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

I was wondering if there are any other former UConn Huskies men’s basketball players in the area after former Husky and current Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen spoke to the team on Tuesday.

I say this because, other than for a 10 minute stretch in the first half, UConn put up one of their finer performances of the 2011-2012 season on Wednesday night.

Four Huskies scored in double figures as they scored their highest point total since New Year’s Eve in a rather convincing 80-54 win over the DePaul Blue Demons in front of a sold-out crowd at Gampel Pavilion.

The win for the Huskies (16-9, 6-7 Big East) snaps a two-game skid for them. The Blue Demons fall to 11-14 (2-11).

Jeremy Lamb led all scorers in the game with 18 points and had five rebounds. Andre Drummond had a good second half on his way to a 15 point, nine rebound performance and two blocks. Both Alex Oriakhi and Shabazz Napier added double-doubles as well. Oriakhi had 14 points and 10 rebounds while Napier had 14 points and 11 assists to go along with six rebounds.

DeAndre Daniels sparked the Huskies in the first half scoring all of eight of his points while fellow freshman Ryan Boatright had a nice game with seven points, seven assists and five rebounds.

Jeremiah Kelly paced Oliver Purnell’s Blue Demons squad with 16 points and had four rebounds. Former UConn commit Cleveland Melvin chipped in with 11 points and four rebounds. Donnavan Kirk led DePaul with five rebounds.

UConn got out of the gates quickly in this one as they started out the game on an 8-0 run behind three-pointers from Napier and Boatright along with dunk from Oriakhi that started the fun. The Blue Demons battled back though over the next few minutes cutting UConn’s lead down to 12-8.

The Huskies increased their lead again with a 14-2 run to take 26-10 lead with 11:50 to go in the half. DePaul responded with the next five points before things took a turn to the ugly side for both teams.

Both teams got sloppy with the ball but were also playing good defense. The Blue Demons would outscore UConn 14-8 over the final 11:50 but the Huskies would enjoy a 34-24 lead.

UConn came out firing on all cylinders in the second half opening up with a 9-3 run. They would eventually build their lead up to 21 points at 53-32 with 14:17 to go. While the Huskies were in control, DePaul didn’t go away. They battled back cutting UConn’s lead to 13 points at 55-42 with 11:16 to go.

But the Huskies didn’t lay down and let them totally back in. Instead, they seized the game with a 7-0 run to open up a 20 point lead and never looked back from there.

Definitely a much better team effort from the Huskies. They looked as though they were enjoying the game of basketball instead of going through the motions. Granted it was only DePaul (I’m not knocking them as they are improved from last year) but a complete team game from them hopefully can led the Huskies to a nice little run to end the season.

They’ll need to put together another team game on Saturday afternoon when the No. 12/13 Marquette Golden Eagles come to the XL Center. Tip is scheduled for 12 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN.

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

Notes and musings:

DePaul Blue Demons @ UConn Huskies 2.15.12 box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn associate head coach George Blaney and DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell. There are also quotes from various players.

UConn announced before the game that head coach Jim Calhoun will be out for at least the next three games as he continues to battle spinal stenosis.

Here’s the release:

STORRS, Conn. (February 15, 2012) — The medical leave of absence of University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun will be extended to include at least the next three UConn games as he receives treatment for spinal stenosis.

Calhoun, who has missed games against Seton Hall (Feb. 4), Louisville (Feb. 6) and Syracuse (Feb. 11) while battling the painful lower back condition, will not be on the Huskies’ bench for Wednesday’s game against DePaul, and will miss Saturday’s game against Marquette and Monday’s game at Villanova as well.

Calhoun has been through a number of evaluations as doctors attempt to diagnose the specific cause of discomfort in order to determine the best course of treatment.

“I am happy that we seem to have located the problem and I am currently moving forward with treatment,” Calhoun said. “We have to give that treatment time to see whether or not it is effective.

“I’m hoping by the middle of next week, we will have a much clearer picture of where we are and when I can look forward to getting back to doing what I do.”

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

The starters for the Huskies were Ryan Boatright, Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, Alex Oriakhi and Andre Drummond.

UConn shot 47.8% (33-69) from the floor while DePaul shot 38.6% (22-57).

The Huskies had 23 assists on their 33 made baskets.

UConn was 5-of-15 (33.3%) from beyond the arc while the Blue Demons were 6-of-25 (24%).

The Huskies were 9-of-18 (50%) from the free throw line. This is unacceptable. A majority of the misses came from Drummond (1-5).

UConn dominated the glass, outrebounding DePaul 50-27.

The Huskies outscored the Blue Demons 44-26 in the paint and 22-14 on the fast break.

UConn had 19 second chance points to nine for DePaul.

The Blue Demons bench did outscore the Huskies 18-12.

UConn had 18 points off of 14 DePaul turnovers. The Blue Demons had 10 points off of 12 Huskies turnovers.

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

Photo credit: John Woike – Hartford Courant (No. 4 in gallery)

BURLINGTON, MA – Comcast SportsNet will provide viewers with 52 hours of Red Sox Spring Training coverage beginning Friday, February 17 and continuing through Saturday, March 3. Special coverage will include reports from the brand new Red Sox Spring Training facility in Fort Myers, with additional programming coming out of the studios in Burlington.

Spring Training coverage will tip off with Chevrolet SportsNet Central on Friday at 6PM. The show will provide daily reports including news, key storylines developing both on and off the field, player analysis, team review, and one-on-one interviews with players and Red Sox personnel. UNO’s Sports Tonight will immediately follow at 6:30PM and will also include daily guests from Fort Myers breaking down the Red Sox storylines.

Comcast SportsNet’s coverage will be highlighted by six special episodes of The Baseball Show Presented by Twin River Casino beginning Friday at 7PM. Each show will include a live call-in and online interactive component giving fans an opportunity to pose questions to the on-air talent and provide their own insight on the Red Sox and Spring Training.

CSNNE.com, the online home to Comcast SportsNet, will provide breaking news, updates and unique features throughout Spring Training with insight and analysis from Red Sox Insider Sean McAdam.

On-air talent covering the events from Fort Myers includes Jessica Moran, Lou Merloni, Mike Giardi, and McAdam.  Bob Neumeier will anchor coverage from Burlington with appearances from Michael Holley and Tony Massarotti.

Comcast SportsNet’s Spring Training coverage from February 17 through March 3 includes:

THE BASEBALL SHOW

• Friday, February 17, 7-8pm
• Monday, February 20, 7-8pm
• Tuesday, February 21, 7-8pm
• Wednesday, February 22, 11pm -12am
• Thursday, February 23, 7 – 8pm
• Friday, February 24, 7–8pm

SPORTSNET CENTRAL

• Friday, February 17, 6:00pm, 10:30pm, 1am
• Saturday, February 18, 6pm, 10:30pm, 1am
• Sunday, February 19, 10pm, 1am
• Monday, February 20, 6pm, 11pm, 1am
• Tuesday, February 21, 6pm, 10:30pm, 1am
• Wednesday, February 22, 6pm, 10pm, 1am
• Thursday, February 23, 6pm, 10:30pm, 1am
• Friday, February 24, 6pm, 10:30pm, 1am
• Saturday, February 25, 6pm, 10:30p, 1am
• Sunday, February 26, 6pm, 10:30pm, 1am
• Monday, February 27, 6pm, 10:30pm, 1am
• Tuesday, February 28, 6pm, 10pm, 1am
• Wednesday, February 29, 6pm, 10:30pm, 1am
• Thursday, March 1, 6pm, 10:30pm, 1am
• Friday, March 2, 6pm, 10:30pm, 1am
• Saturday, March 3, 8pm, 10:30pm, 1am

SPORTS TONIGHT

• Friday, February 17, 6:30p, 10pm
• Monday, February 20, 6:30pm, 10pm
• Tuesday, February 21, 6:30pm, 10pm
• Wednesday, February 22, 10:30pm
• Thursday, February 23, 630pm, 10pm
• Friday, February 24, 6:30pm, 10pm
• Monday, February 27, 6:30pm, 10pm
• Tuesday, February 28, 10:30pm
• Wednesday, February 29, 6:30pm, 11pm
• Thursday, March 1, 6:30pm, 10pm
• Friday, March 2, 6:30pm, 11pm

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.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they’ll host the DePaul Blue Demons tonight at Gampel Pavilion. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised locally in Connecticut on SNY.

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

UConn Men’s Basketball links

UConn Injury Updates: Roscoe Smith Joins Lamb, Drummond In ‘Questionable’ Status [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Blaney: Jim Calhoun’s Pain Has ‘Intensified’ [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

UConn’s Tyler Olander: Tweeting For Trouble [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Huskies Get A Visit From Ray Allen [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

UConn Players Inspired by Ray Allen’s Talk [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Notes/Quotes from Valentine’s Day: “He’s a great trainer. If I was on my own, I’d still be stuck in my room to this day.” [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Calhoun Update: Pain Has Intensified [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Ray Allen gives inspirational speech to Huskies, plus injury updates, etc. [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Are the Huskies trying to keep up with this Jones? [John Nash – The Hour]

Huskies trying to get healthy [Neill Ostrout – Journal Inquirer]

Frustrated Tyler Olander lashes out on twitter [The UConn Blog]

Know Your Enemy: Baltimore Trio helping rebuild DePaul [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Injuries another concern for slumping UConn [CT Post]

Ray Allen Tries To Boost Huskies [Hartford Courant]

Jim Calhoun’s Pain Has Intensified Says Acting UConn Coach George Blaney [Hartford Courant]

A Worthy Addition To Huskies Of Honor [Hartford Courant]

Struggling Huskies get a visit from an old star [New Haven Register]

Old pro provides pep talk [The Day]

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

Is the Calhoun era at UConn near its end? [USA Today]

No exceptions for UConn in NCAA ruling [Columbia Spectator]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Big East Business – As Usual – For UConn [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

UConn Women Point Toward Showdown With Notre Dame [Hartford Courant]

UConn Football links

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

WVU departures impact [John Silver – Journal Inquirer]

UConn Football Intensifying Focus On Class Of 2013 [Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

Baseball. WHUS Scheduled to Cover Full Slate of UConn Baseball [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Track. Bikanova & McLaren Earn BIG EAST Field Athletes Of The Week [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Tennis. Women’s Tennis Falls To Stonybrook [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Golf. UConn Defeats Loyola-Chicago [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

Calhoun Weighing Options; Drummond, Lamb Dealing With Injuries [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Calhoun ‘Really Happy’ About Choice of Warde Manuel [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Drummond will miss practice with ankle sprain [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Calhoun on new AD Manuel [Neill Ostrout – Journal Inquirer]

UConn Coach Jim Calhoun Likely To Miss Wednesday Game [Hartford Courant]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Auriemma Getting Pumped For The Olympics [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

How Do You Say No To Asjha Jones? [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

The New Boss Leaves Geno A Voice Mail [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Stewart, Jefferson, Tuck Named Naismith Finalists [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

UConn women drop Oklahoma [CT Post]

UConn Overcomes Early Fouls To Defeat Oklahoma [Hartford Courant]

Auriemma Has Tough Act Jugging Two Teams [Hartford Courant]

Huskies beat Oklahoma for 12th straight win [New Haven Register]

Huskies easily handle Oklahoma [Mechelle Voepel – ESPN.com]

Huskies’ Hayes embraces senior role [Mechelle Voepel – ESPN.com]

No. 2 Connecticut routs Sooners [NewsOK.com]

Geno Auriemma sorry to see series vs. Sooners end [NewsOK.com]

UConn Football links

Revised 2011 top 25 countdown: No. 21 Lyle McCombs [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Maryland QB Danny O’Brien Transferring And UConn Is Believed To Be Interested [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

Q&A: UConn AD Warde Manuel [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Quotes From The Introductory Press Conference Of New AD Warde Manuel [UConnHuskies.com]

Cleaning up APR mess is Manuel’s biggest task [CT Post]

Herbst calls new UConn AD Warde Manuel a ‘rock star’ [New Haven Register]

Manuel brings his vision to Storrs [The Day]

Tests for New Athletic Director at UConn [NY Times]

W. Cross Country. Women’s Cross Country Earn All-Academic Accolade [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball. Opening Day Nears for UConn Baseball [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball. Mazzilli Adds Two More Preseason All-American Honors [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Track. Former Husky Shines At Milrose Games [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Golf. UConn Golfers Bow In Match Play Opener [UConnHuskies.com]

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

Stepping out of conference this late in the season can be tough for any team, even if you are the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team. When you’re used to one style of play in the Big East, sometimes that doesn’t carry over so well. Case in point was Monday night’s game against the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Huskies had been in some heavyweight brawls their last two times out against Louisville and Georgetown where fouls were called like they were in style. The Big East is a physical conference and UConn can play physical with the best of them. Just ask Sylvia Hatchell, UNC women’s basketball coach who complained about the Huskies strong-arming her team.

So with the whistles blowing again, UConn’s play changed and this allowed Oklahoma back into the game. But fortunately for the Huskies, they were the more talented team and that showed in their 73-55 win over the Sooners in front of 7,954 pink clad fans and a nationally-televised audience on ESPN2 at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK.

UConn improves to 24-2 while the Sooners fall to 16-8. The Huskies finish up the non-conference portion of their schedule at 13-1 with their only loss coming to No. 1 Baylor in Waco, TX.

Tiffany Hayes led the way for UConn with 23 points and seven assists to go along with six rebounds and three steals.  Bria Hartley added 20 points and a team-high seven rebounds with three assists and two steals. Stefanie Dolson and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis both added 10 points with five rebounds and four rebounds respectively. KML tied Hayes with a team-high three steals.

Whitney Hand paced the Sooners with 18 points and added six rebounds and three assists. Sharane Campbell was the only other Sooner in double digits with 11 points and she also pulled down seven boards. Jelena Cerina led all rebounders in the game with nine to go along with her seven points.

It really looked as though this game was going to be over early for the Sooners as UConn didn’t waste too much time going on a big run. They started off the game with a 21-4 run over the first eight minutes. Sheri Coale’s team didn’t give up though.

Over the next three minutes, they scored the games next 11 points to cut UConn’s lead down to six points. Kelly Faris ended that run with a jumper. The Huskies would work their lead back up to 11 points at 30-19 with just under six minutes remaining on a Hartley three pointer.

Then for the next two and a half minutes, neither team found the basket until Hand sunk a free throw after missing her first one. Brianna Banks would nail a three to give UConn a 33-20 lead but once again the Sooners made another run. This time it was an 8-0 run that would cut UConn’s lead to five points but the Huskies would score the final four points of the half to enjoy a 37-28 lead at the break.

UConn tried their best to put this one away again right out of the gates in the second half as they opened up with an 8-2 run. The Sooners rallied back again and got it down to 10 points before six straight points by the Huskies pushed that lead back 16.

Oklahoma would eventually wittle UConn’s lead back down to nine points on two Hand free throws with just under six to go in the game. But that’s as close as the Sooners would get the rest of the way as UConn would use a 10-0 run to put this one out of reach.

Another solid win for the Huskies who had to battle adversity at times during this game with the fouls being called early on. But good teams adjust to things and that’s exactly what they did.

The next game for UConn will be Saturday night when the St. John’s Red Storm come to Gampel Pavilion. It’s Senior Night for the Huskies as Hayes will be honored before the game. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised locally in Connecticut on CPTV.

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

Notes and musings:

UConn Huskies @ Oklahoma Sooners 2.13.12 box score

UConn leads the all-time series with the Sooners 10-0.

Oklahoma guard Whitney Hand is engaged to Sooners quarterback Landry Jones.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant was in attendance for the game

The Huskies finished up their non-conference schedule at 13-1 with their only loss coming to No. 1 Baylor in Waco, TX.

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

The Huskies shot 39.4% (26-66) from the floor while the Sooners shot 34.5% (19-55).

UConn had 15 assists on their 26 made baskets.

The Huskies were 7-of-24 (29.2%) from beyond the arc. Oklahoma was 3-of-14 (21.4%).

UConn was almost perfect at the free throw line going 14-of-15 (93.3%). The only miss was by Kiah Stokes who was 1-of-2.

The Huskies barely won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Sooners 40-39.

UConn outscored Oklahoma in the paint 32-22 and 12-2 on the fast break.

The Huskies had 14 second chance points to eight for the Sooners.

Oklahoma’s bench outscored UConn’s 26-16.

The Huskies had 16 points off of 15 Sooners turnovers. Oklahoma had 13 points off of eight UConn turnovers. Geno Auriemma should be much happier with that number considering how much the team has turned the ball over as of late.

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Photo credit: AP Photo

Here’s the press release from the NCAA that announces that Gampel Pavilion, home of the UConn Huskies, will host the first and second rounds of the 2013 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee has announced the selections of the first- and second-round as well as regional sites for the 2013 tournament.

Cities chosen to host first- and second-round games in 2013 include Baton Rouge, La.; Boulder, Colo.; College Park, Md.; College Station, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Durham, N.C.; Iowa City, Iowa; Knoxville, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; Lubbock, Texas; Newark, Del.; Queens, N.Y.; Spokane, Wash.; Stanford, Calif.; Storrs, Conn.; and Waco, Texas.

The four selected regional sites are Norfolk, Va.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Spokane, Wash.; and Trenton, N.J.

“As a committee we are excited that in 2013 our championship will be hosted by institutions from nine different conferences, with Delaware and St. John’s hosting for the first time,” said Greg Christopher, chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee and director of athletics at Bowling Green State University. “Having this geographic blend of sites is important to the committee as we continue to grow the game of women’s basketball.”

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The following first- and second-round sites will play host to games either March 23 and 25 or March 24 and 26, 2013 (dates to be determined in June 2012):

The following regional sites will play host to games either March 30 and April 1 or March 31 and April 2, 2013 (dates to be determined in June 2012):

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