HARTFORD, Conn. (January 26, 2012) – University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball Head Coach Geno Auriemma is a man known for many things: seven national championships, induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame and Head Coach of the U.S. National Team at the upcoming 2012 Olympics, to name a few. But he’s also known for his candid observations, insights on the game and unfailing humor.

Tune in to The Geno Auriemma Show: Special Edition – a rare on-location interview program taped in front of a packed audience of Husky fans where Auriemma will have a chance to show off his wit, candor and wisdom. Viewers get an inside look at this year’s team as Auriemma discuss the contribution of the team’s freshmen class, how they feel the season has gone so far, their upcoming games in the regular season as well as how the team plans to prepare for Big East and NCAA Tournament play in the coming weeks. Hosted by Meghan Culmo, CPTV’s UConn Women’s Basketball sports analyst and former UConn basketball player, the special premieres on Saturday, February 11 at 3 p.m. on Connecticut Public Television (CPTV), with an encore broadcast on Saturday, February 18 at 3 p.m.

Taped at the Rocky Hill Marriott in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, Auriemma is joined on stage by a collection of surprise guests. (In past years, these guests have included Associate Coach Chris Daily, Assistant Coaches Shea Ralph and Marisa Moseley, as well as UConn players Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes.)

The Geno Auriemma Show: Special Edition event and broadcast are sponsored by J.H. Cohn LLP, Accountants and Consultants.­

“We are pleased to continue in this our third year as presenting sponsor of The Geno Auriemma Show: Special Edition,” stated Frank Longobardi, J.H. Cohn New England Region Managing Partner. “UConn Women’s Basketball, Geno Auriemma and Connecticut Public Broadcasting are a winning team, and we are very proud to continue our association with all three,” further commented Longobardi.

CPTV is the TV broadcast home of UConn Women’s Basketball and has been broadcasting the team’s games since 1994. With some of the consistently highest ratings and strongest membership levels of any program on public television over the past 18 years, UConn Women’s Basketball on CPTV is considered to be one of the most successful local franchises in public television history.

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

Photos: UConn Men’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum Uniforms [SOX & Dawgs]

DeAndre Daniels used to dealing with adversity [New Haven Register]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Photos: UConn Women’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum Uniforms [SOX & Dawgs]

Tiffany Hayes has a career night [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Auriemma Says Doty Back On Friday [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

More Praise From Geno For Breanna Stewart [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Nike’s New Uniforms: Like Them Or Hate Them [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

No Place Like Home For Breanna Stewart [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Doty On Track To Practice Friday, Play Saturday; Geno Talks Unis [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Auriemma Heaps More Praise On Stewart; Hayes Making Noise [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

UConn women pull away from Syracuse [CT Post]

Tiffany Hayes Leads UConn To 95-54 Win Over Syracuse [Hartford Courant]

UConn Expects Doty Back For Saturday’s Game [Hartford Courant]

Tiffany Hayes amazes at Syracuse, scores career-high 35 [New Haven Register]

UConn Football links

Season grade: UConn [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

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

Other UConn related links

W. Track. Huskies Set For Penn State National Invite [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Track. Huskies Ready To Compete In Joe Donahue Collegiate Indoor Games [UConnHuskies.com]

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

Boston Red Sox GM Ben Cherington is really trying hard to avoid having any case go to arbitration. If he succeeds, he’ll keep up the legacy that former GM Theo Epstein left him with.

Going into Wednesday, Cherington only had to sign Alfredo Aceves, Andrew Bailey and David Ortiz. Now, we can narrow that list down to two players, Aceves and Big Papi.

According to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, the Red Sox and Bailey came to terms on a one-year, $3.9 million deal. Bailey had requested $4.7 million while the Red Sox were offering $3.35 million.

Here’s the full release from the Red Sox:

BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox today agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Andrew Bailey on a one-year, non-guaranteed contract for the 2012 season, thus avoiding salary arbitration.  Terms were not disclosed.

The announcement was made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington.      

Bailey was acquired by Boston from Oakland on December 28, 2011.  The 27-year-old right-hander converted 24 of 26 save opportunities (92.3 percent) for the A’s in 2011, the second-highest success rate among American League closers.  He posted a 3.24 ERA (15 ER/41.2 IP) in 42 relief appearances overall with Oakland last season, compiling 41 strikeouts compared to 12 walks while holding opponents to a .218 average (34-for-156).    

Selected by the A’s in the sixth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, Bailey has converted 75 of 84 (89.3) save opportunities while posting a 2.07 ERA (40 ER/174.0 IP) in three Major League seasons from 2009-11, the third-highest save percentage in the American League in that time (min. 40 chances) and second-lowest ERA among relievers (min. 125.0 innings).     

With today’s agreement, designated hitter David Ortiz and right-handed pitcher Alfredo Aceves are the only remaining unsigned Red Sox players eligible for salary arbitration.

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

When you play against the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team, you need to give it your all for 40 minutes. Anything less isn’t going to cut it because you know their going to go on one of their patented runs.

Trailing by just seven points at halftime, the Syracuse Orange found that out on Wednesday night.

Behind a 55 point second half and 35 points from senior Tiffany Hayes, the Huskies were able to turn a close game into a 95-54 blowout win over the Orange in front of a women’s basketball record crowd of 4,357 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY.

With the win, UConn improves 18-2 (7-1 Big East). The Orange fall to 13-8 (2-5).

Hayes probably thought the basket was about 10 times bigger than it was as it seemed like everything she threw up at the basket went in. She got her 35 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc. She was also a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line and pulled down seven rebounds.

Making her first career start in place of the injured Caroline Doty, freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis responded with a nice game of her own. She had 19 points, a team-high eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Bria Hartley added 18 points, three rebounds and seven assists.

With Stefanie Dolson battling foul trouble in the first half, Kiah Stokes had another great game as she chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds. For good measure despite only scoring two points, Kelly Faris also pulled down seven boards.

Iasia Hemingway led the Orange with 15 points and five assists while grabbing five rebounds. Carmen Tyson-Thomas was the only other member of Syracuse in double digits with 11 points. Shakeya Leary led the Orange with eight rebounds to go along with her six points.

After Hayes got the Huskies going just 24 seconds into the game with a basket, they went cold. And during that time, the Orange was able to build a little bit of a lead. Early on, it was as high as five at 9-4 before they increased to six at 14-8. Hartley would cut the lead to three before the Orange increased their lead to 18-11.

But as we’ve come to expect, the Huskies bounced back with a 9-0 run to take a two point lead. The two teams would exchange baskets but with the scored tied at 24, UConn used a 6-0 run to open up their lead. They would build that lead to 12 points at 40-28 before the Orange came back with the final five points of the first half.

UConn’s big run didn’t come in the first half though, it came at the start of the second half.

The Huskies opened up the second half with a 22-5 run behind Hayes, Hartley and KML. From there, the lead just continued to grow and grow until the final whistle.

UConn will be back in action on Saturday afternoon as they’ll host the South Florida Bulls at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game will be televised locally in Connecticut on CPTV.

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

Notes and musings:

UConn Huskies @ Syracuse Orange 1.25.12 box score

In case you missed it, here are the new UConn women’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms that they’ll wear on February 27th against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The crowd of 4,357 was the biggest crowd ever to see a women’s basketball at the Carrier Dome. Included in that crowd was UConn committ Breana Stewart who hails from the Syracuse area.

For the first time all season, due to the injury to Caroline Doty, the Huskies had a different starting lineup. The starters were Bria Hartley, Tiffany Hayes, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Kelly Faris and Stefanie Dolson.

UConn shot 51.5% (34-66) from the floor while the Orange shot 30.6% (19-62).

The Huskies had 21 assists on their 34 made baskets.

UConn was shot 48% (12-25) from beyond the arc. Syracuse was just 4-of-14 (28.6%).

The Huskies went 15-of-17 from the charity stripe (88.2%).

UConn won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Orange 45-34.

The Huskies outscored Syracuse 32-24 in the paint and 21-6 on the fast break.

UConn had 24 points off of 17 Orange turnovers. Syracuse had 10 points off of 13 Huskies turnovers.

Syracuse had 15 second chance points to 14 for the Huskies.

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

Photo credit: Lauren Mackson – US Presswire (No. 15 in gallery)

As I stated a few posts ago, I had the pleasure of attending the release event held by Nike for their new Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms.

There are eight schools, nine teams that are considered Hyper Elite. The UConn Huskies are the only school that are represented by both their men’s and women’s basketball programs.

The others are the Arizona Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils, Florida Gators, Kentucky Wildcats, North Carolina Tar Heels and the Syracuse Orange. The Baylor Lady Bears are the only other women’s team represented.

All of these schools are currently wearing the Hyper Elite uniforms from Nike. But for one game this season, they will be wearing the new Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms. Besides the uniforms, they’ll be sporting Nike Zoom Hyperenforcer shoes and Nike Hyper Elite warmups.

In an era where we are environmentally conscious, Nike is doing their part as well.

Each of the uniforms are made from the equivalent of 24 recycled plastic bottles (15 for the tops, nine for the shorts) that are converted into polyester. The uniforms are also much lighter than the current Hyper Elite uniforms that they are wearing now. They also made some changes on the “sweatback” which is now extended over the whole backside of the uniform which is different than their current Hyper Elite uniforms as well.

click on image to see full size

The UConn women will be wearing their new Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms on Monday, February 27th, when they host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

I know some people aren’t going to like the red in the uniform. We do have to remember one thing.

Nike had to design two different uniforms for UConn because of the women’s and men’s basketball teams being represented. If you know what the UConn women’s logo looks like, you’ll know it has some red in it. So that’s what Nike went with.

Honestly, the pictures don’t do the red justice. We were able to see all of the uniforms on the models at the event and the UConn women’s uniform looks great on. Hopefully people will see that when they wear them.

Ironically enough, when all of the nine teams wear their new Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms (thanks to Sean from Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, who also attended, for that fact), they will be doing so against other manufacturers.

I can’t thank Nike Basketball enough for inviting me to the event and giving me the opportunity to be one of the first people to see the new uniforms.

For your full look at the UConn Huskies women’s basketball Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms, please click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

UConn Women’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniform

Back of UConn Women’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniform

UConn Women’s Nike Hyper Elite Warmup top

UConn Huskies Women’s Nike Zoom Hyperenforcer

Side of UConn Women’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum shorts

Neck Detail of UConn Women’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniform

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