It’s game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they will host the Clemson Tigers in the final game of the WBCA Classic. Tip is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on CPTV. The game is also available on the internet for a fee through Hoop Streams. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Passing grades [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Video: Post Game Interviews Following UConn’s Victory Over Richmond Saturday [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Video: John Altavilla On The Victory Over Richmond [John Altavilla- Hartford Courant]

Focus Is There For Huskies [Rich Elliott – Connecticut Post]

UConn women sharp, roll past Richmond [Connecticut Post]

UConn women’s notebook: Auriemma happy with Huskies [Connecticut Post]

Doty Leads Latest Rout For UConn Women [Hartford Courant]

Auriemma Honored For 700th Win [Hartford Courant]

Up Next: UConn Women Vs. Clemson [Hartford Courant]

UConn Moments: Top 10 Women’s Moments [Hartford Courant]

UConn keeps its guards up [New Haven Register]

Hustling Huskies roll past the Spiders [The Day]

UConn women look more unbeatable than ever [The Republican-American]

UConn women’s basketball notebook [The Republican-American]

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It’s a common misnomer that the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team is boring to watch. For the common fan, I’m sure this is true.

Case and point (follow the arrow below in the picture):

But for me and the rest of the Huskies diehards, this is simply not the case.

Sure they have a tendency to blow out their opponents and honestly it can get a little boring to watch at times. But most of the time it’s fun because you get to see some of the role players come in and play just as hard as the regular rotation does.

Meghan Gardler comes out and works her butt off night after night and it doesn’t matter what the score is. Same goes for Kaili McLaren, Kelly Faris, Heather Buck and Jacquie Fernandes. We haven’t seen Lorin Dixon yet this year but you can expect the same when she returns.

As UConn women’s fans, we here in Connecticut have enjoyed some stress free times watching the games lately. And this trend will probably continue for the better part of the 2009-2010 season.

The only teams I see giving the Huskies trouble are the Stanford Cardinal and a team they have to face twice in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Other than that, the only way the Huskies can get beat, is if they beat themselves.

And with Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma at the helm of this ship, I just don’t see this happening.

With the way the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team is playing defense this year, it could be a very long season for their opponents.

The Huskies held the Richmond Spiders 32 points under their season average in an 86-37 win in front of 8,523 fans at Gampel Pavilion in the WBCA Classic on Saturday night.

The Huskies move to 5-0 and now have won 44 straight games. The Spiders fall to 3-2 on the young season.

Richmond came into the game with a plan of preventing the Huskies from getting layups. So what did the Huskies do instead? They hit 13-of-21 three-point attempts and still had 36 points in the paint as well. The Huskies finished the night shooting 60% from the floor.

Caroline Doty led five Huskies in double digits with 17 points, including five 3-pointers. Tiffany Hayes had 15 points, 5 rebounds and a career-high seven assists while Tina Charles had 13 points and 5 rebounds. Kelly Faris chipped in with a career-high 12 points and Maya Moore finished with 11 points that all came in the first half.

Brittani Shells led the Spiders with 12 points. Cara Powell and Crystal Goring both added six points. Former Husky Kristin Phillips missed the game for Richmond with an injury.

This game was over right after the opening tip as the Spiders were held scoreless for the first six minutes of the half. By that point, they were trailing 14-0. Later in the half with a 25-6 lead, the Huskies went on a 16-o run on their way to a 51-14 lead.

UConn opened up the second half with an 8-2 run and it was just a matter of big the win would become. The Huskies had beaten their previous four opponents by 49.4 points and the 49 point win on Saturday hit their average.

Another quick turnaround for the Huskies as they will finish up the WBCA Classic on Sunday afternoon with a game against the Clemson Tigers. Tip is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally on CPTV.

With the wind blowing hard at Rentschler Field on Saturday afternoon, the UConn Huskies went to their strength in their running game against the Syracuse Orange.

Randy Edsall’s plan worked to perfection as Jordan Todman and Andre Dixon rushed for 196 yards and a combined four touchdowns in UConn’s 56-31 win over the Orange in front of a sold-out crowd at the Rent.

The win for the Huskies is their 6th of the season (6-5, 2-4) and makes them bowl eligible for the third straight season. The Orange finished up their season at 4-8 (1-6).

Scoring:

1st quarter

CON – Andre Dixon 4 Yd Run (Dave Teggart Kick) – UConn 7 Syracuse 0

SU – Ryan Lichtenstein 26 Yard field goal – UConn 7 Syracuse 3

CON – Mike Lang 80 Yd Kickoff Return (Dave Teggart Kick) – UConn 14 Syracuse 3

2nd quarter

SU – Mike Owen 4 Yd Pass From Ryan Nassib (Ryan Lichtenstein Kick) – UConn 14 Syracuse 10

CON – Jordan Todman 37 Yd Run (Dave Teggart Kick) – UConn 21 Syracuse 10

SU – Alec Lemon 3 Yd Pass From Greg Paulus (Ryan Lichtenstein Kick) – UConn 21 Syracuse 17

CON – Andre Dixon 1 Yd Run (Dave Teggart Kick) – UConn 28 Syracuse 17

3rd quarter

CON – Marcus Easley 8 Yd Pass From Zach Frazer (Dave Teggart Kick) – UConn 35 Syracuse 17

4th quarter

SU – Lavar Lobdell 12 Yd Pass From Greg Paulus (Ryan Lichtenstein Kick) – UConn 35 Syracuse 24

CON – Andre Dixon 45 Yd Run (Dave Teggart Kick) – UConn 42 Syracuse 24

SU – Delone Carter 10 Yd Run (Ryan Lichtenstein Kick) – UConn 42 Syracuse 31

CON – Marcus Easley 28 Yd Pass From Zach Frazer (Dave Teggart Kick) – UConn 49 Syracuse 31

CON – Dwayne Gratz 34 Yd Fumble Return (Dave Teggart Kick) – UConn 56 Syracuse 31

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It’s game day for the UConn Huskies football team as they will host the Syracuse Orange this afternoon at Rentschler Field. A win will make the Huskies bowl-eligible. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. and the game will be televised locally on My-TV9. If you can’t make the game, you can always catch the radio broadcast on the WTIC/UConn Football Radio Network. And if you missed my game preview, be sure to check that out as well.

Expect the game recap to be up later than normal as I will be attending the game today. Tailgating starts around 8 a.m.

It’s also game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they will host the Richmond Spiders in their second game in the WBCA Classic.   Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on CPTV. The game is also available on the internet for a fee through Hoop Streams. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

UConn Football links

UConn-SU Sold Out And Huskies Add To Recruiting Pile [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Q&A: Brian from Orange:44 [TheUConnBlog.com]

Syracuse a big test for UConn’s rushing offense [Connecticut Post]

Syracuse at UConn: Who has the edge? [Connecticut Post]

Husky kickoff: UConn vs. Syracuse [Connecticut Post]

Huskies Looking To Become Bowl Eligible [Hartford Courant]

Huskies ready to go on a run [Journal Inquirer]

UConn playing for bowl eligibility [New Haven Register]

Huskies hoping to end up in bowl [AP via the Norwich Bulletin]

Huskies can become bowl eligible with win [The Day]

CONNECTICUT – SYRACUSE FOOTBALL PREVIEW [NBE Football Report]

Syracuse football team hopes to close 2009 season with a bang at UConn [The Post Standard]

Syracuse University tackles UConn in season finale [Democrat and Chronicle]

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It was a foregone conclusion before the game on Friday night that UConn Huskies women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma would pick up his 700th career win against the Hofstra Pride. The only question that remained unanswered was how many points his Huskies would win by.

The number turned out to be 45 as Maya Moore’s 23 points paced the Huskies to a 91-46 win over the Pride in front of 8,498 at Gampel Pavilion in the WBCA Classic.

The win for the Huskies gives Auriemma 700 career wins against just 122 losses. He is the fastest coach to 700 wins in women’s basketball. He joins women’s basketball active coaches Tennessee’s Pat Summitt, Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer, North Carolina’s Sylvia Hatchell, Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, Montana’s Robin Selvig, Georgia’s Andy Landers and Virginia’s Deb Ryan with at least 700 wins in their careers. Ryan just happened to be Auriemma’s mentor.

UConn moves to 4-0 on the season while the Pride fall to 3-1.

The Huskies were playing with just nine players on Friday as guards Lorin Dixon and Jacquie Fernandes were both out. Dixon is still out with a hamstring injury while Fernandes missed the game with an undisclosed illness.

Besides her 23 points, Moore had 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. Tina Charles had 17 points and 8 rebounds with Kalana Greene adding 14 points. Tiffany Hayes added 10 points while senior Meghan Gardler came off the bench to add 10 as well. Caroline Doty led the Huskies with 9 assists to go along with 9 points. Freshman Kelly Faris led the Huskies with 9 rebounds and also had 4 steals.

Nicole Capurso led the Pride with 9 points. Candice Bellocchio and Jess Fuller had 7 points each while Marie Malone added 6 points.

Leading 8-7 early on, the Huskies went on a 12-0 run and built a 20 point lead at the half behind Moore, who had 18 points in the first half.

They used a 20-5 run to start the second half to make sure the Pride had no chance of ruining Auriemma’s night.

Quick turnaround for the Huskies as they’ll take on the Richmond Spiders on Saturday night. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally on CPTV. Former Husky Kristin Phillips, who came in with this year’s seniors for UConn, will not play for the Spiders due to an injury.

With the 91-46 win over the Hofstra Pride on Friday night, UConn Huskies women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma won his 700th game in his coaching career. All 700 wins have come at UConn.

The NIT Season Tip-Off Committee got it what wanted in the finals at Madison Square Garden on Friday.

Two top programs in the UConn Huskies and Duke Blue Devils. Two Hall of Fame coaches with at least 800 wins in Jim Calhoun and Mike Krzyzewski. And for about eight minutes, they got what appeared to be another instant classic at the world’s most famous arena.

But instead, the Dukies clamped down on defense and took advantage of a UConn cold streak in the first half to propel themselves to 68-59 win to take the NIT Season Tip-Off Championship.

It’s the fourth time the No. 7 Blue Devils (6-0) have won the tournament. The No. 13 Huskies (4-1) had taken the last four games, including wins in the 1999 NCAA Championship Game and 2004 NCAA Tournament Semifinals.

The reason UConn lost.

It’s simple. They shot the ball like crap, they got outrebounded, they couldn’t keep control of the ball and they missed almost half of their free throws.

UConn went 15-of-26 (53.6%) from the free throw line and had they made at least 10 of the misses, they could have won again. Instead, they’ll have to deal with the ire of Calhoun.

It wasn’t much prettier for Duke as they shot 29.6% (21-of-74) in the game from the floor and made just eight field goals in the second half. The difference? They made six 3-pointers while UConn put up a doughnut.

The other difference. They missed 53 shots but grabbed 56 rebounds including a 25-14 advantage on the offensive glass.

The game took a turn for the worse for UConn when Duke’s Kyle Singler went to the bench with three fouls. UConn was clinging to a 22-21 lead and had prime opportunity to really put the game in their favor.

Instead, the Blue Devils went on an 16-6 run to close out the half as the Huskies got sloppy with the ball and rushed their shots.

The Blue Devils put the game away early in the second half with a 12-0 run to take a 53-34 lead that UConn chipped away at but never got closer than eight points at 62-54. They got that close on a 12-0 run but it wasn’t enough.

Jerome Dyson led the Huskies with 15 points on 6-of-20 shooting. In unlike Dyson form, he was only 3-of-9 from the free throw line. Gavin Edwards, coming off the bench for the second straight game, added 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks while Stanley Robinson chipped in with 10 points. Freshman Alex Oriakhi had 8 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

Tournament MVP John Scheyer led the Dukies with 19 points and had five assists. Nolan Smith added 16 points while Andre Dawkins and Lance Thomas had 11 points with Thomas adding 10 rebounds. Duke’s leading scorer, Singler, was held to six points.

The Huskies return to action on Wednesday night when they will host the Boston University Terriers at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on My-TV9.

This week:

After an emotional win  last Saturday over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the UConn Huskies return home to the friendly comforts of Rentschler Field to take on the Syracuse Orange Saturday at 12:00 p.m. A win on Saturday would make the Huskies bowl eligible.

Here are the rosters for the Orange and the Huskies.

The Line/Prediction:

According to Rivals.com, the Huskies are 13.5 point favorites and the over/under is 47. My prediction is UConn 31 Syracuse 14.

Tickets:

The game is sold-out.

Getting To The Game:

Here is link for the weather report. Here is all the parking info you will need for the game, this link includes directions to Rentschler Field. Here is a Rentschler Field seating chart.

The parking lots will open up 4 hours before kickoff. Here is a list of the tailgating rules at the Rent. And some alternative tailgating rules can be found here.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television:

Saturday’s game will be televised by the BIG EAST Network as the BIG EAST Game of the Week and will be seen throughout the Northeast, Midwest and Southern portions of the country. Mike Gleason is on play-by-play while John Congemi is on color and Quint Kessenich is on sidelines.

The game will be seen locally on MyTV9-WCTX and also on SNY. Other large market live clearances include WCVB-TV in Boston, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, Altitude Sports in Denver, WTTV-TV in Indianapolis, WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, WMLW-TV in Milwaukee, WHAS-TV in Louisville and Cox Sports New England in Providence.

Radio:

For the 18th consecutive season, WTIC 1080-AM in Hartford serves as the flagship station for the UConn Radio Network. WTIC is the state’s only 50,000 watt signal and can be heard in 23 states and parts of Canada. Veteran UConn announcers Joe D’Ambrosio (play-by-play) and Wayne Norman (color commentary) return to call the action with Kevin Nathan on the side lines and Eric Davis on production.

The UConn pregame show begins 90 minutes prior to kickoff, while home games, the UConn Tailgate Show will air two and a half hours prior to the game with Arnold Dean. UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet at WTIC.com. For a full list of stations on the WTIC/UCONN radio network, click here.

Syracuse Radio

Voice of the Orange Matt Park ‘97 and former Orange All-American tight end Chris Gedney ‘93 call the game action and Brian Higgins ‘04 provides sideline reports. Higgins also hosts the pre-game and postgame shows. Former Orange head coach Dick MacPherson provides insight and analysis during the pre- and post-game shows and at halftime. TK-99.5 FM is the flagship for the ISP Sports Network.The Syracuse ISP Sports Network covers New York, New Jersey, Vermont and Pennsylvania. SU game broadcasts are also available on SIRIUS/XM satellite radio (channel 122/203).

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It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they will face the Duke Blue Devils in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden. Tip is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

It’s also game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they will host Hofstra in their first game in the WBCA Classic. The Huskies will look to get head coach Geno Auriemma the 700th win of his Hall of Fame coaching career.  Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on CPTV. The game is also available on the internet for a fee through Hoop Streams. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

UConn Football links

The UConn football links will be coming up shortly in the game preview. They can be found in the other news section.

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