UConn Women’s Basketball links
UConn women deal thumping to Seton Hall [Connecticut Post]
UConn women’s notebook: Dixon making strides [Connecticut Post]
UConn Women Overwhelm Seton Hall [Hartford Courant]
UConn A Good Draw [Hartford Courant]
Extras … [Hartford Courant]
Huskies make Pirates walk plank [New Haven Register]
Rout after rout, Top 25 teams demolish opponents in record-setting fashion [AP via Los Angeles Times]
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Back on November 7, 2009, the UConn Huskies football team had just lost their third straight close game after the passing of cornerback Jasper Howard on October 18th. It was also their fourth loss in their last five games to drop their record to 4-5 (1-4 in the Big East).
They had a big game coming up with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looming but more importantly a bye week. The Huskies really hadn’t had any time off since the tragic death of Howard so head coach Randy Edsall gave them some extra time off.
That extra time off for them paid great dividends as the Huskies would go on to win their final three games to secure a bowl bid which ended up putting them in the Papajohns.com Bowl against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
The emotional season the Huskies went through couldn’t have been scripted to end any better as the Huskies used their strength, the running game, to beat the Gamecocks 20-7 on Saturday in front of a Papajohns.com Bowl-record crowd of 45,254 at Legion Field in Birmingham, AL.
Andre Dixon paced the Huskies rushing attack with 126 yards on 33 carries and a touchdown. His backfield mate Jordan Todman added 36 yards on just nine carries.
While Dixon was doing most of the work on the offensive side of the ball, it was the Huskies defense that also carried them to this win over South Carolina. They had probably their finest game of the season.
UConn changed their defense up a bit on the Gamecocks. They blitzed more than they had all season and South Carolina just didn’t have an answer for this. They held them to season-low 205 total yards of offense.
The Huskies have a lot to look forward to in 2010 as they will return 18 starters next season and could be a force to be reckoned with in the Big East next season.
As fan of this UConn Huskies football team, I couldn’t be any prouder of them for persevering through this emotional, trying season that saw them lose a brother, a friend and a teammate. And kudos to Edsall for providing them the leadership to get through that time.
Scoring:
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| South Carolina Gamecocks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| UConn Huskies | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
1st quarter
CON – Kashif Moore 37 yard pass from Zach Frazer (Dave Teggart PAT) – UConn 7 SC 0
CON – Dave Teggart 33 yard field goal – UConn 10 SC 0
2nd quarter
CON – Dave Teggart 44 yard field goal – UConn 13 SC 0
3rd quarter
None
4th quarter
CON – Andre Dixon 10 yard run (Dave Teggart PAT) – UConn 20 SC 0
SC – Brian Maddox 2 yard run (Spencer Lanning PAT) – UConn 20 SC 7
There’s going to be games where the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team may get challenged for a bit (Stanford, Florida State). And of course there’s going to be games like the one against the Seton Hall Pirates where they just totally dominate from start to finish.
Tina Charles had 19 points and 8 rebounds to help the Huskies to a 91-24 win over the Pirates in front of 4,166 at The Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on Saturday afternoon.
It’s the first Big East win of the season and 51st straight win for the Huskies as they improve to 12-0 (1-0 Big East). The Pirates fall to 8-6 (0-1).
It was also the 800th win for the UConn women’s basketball program. The first one came 35 years ago on January 23, 1975 under coach Sandra Hamm. Current head coach Geno Auriemma has led them to 708 of those 800 wins.
Kalana Greene had 16 points for the Huskies with 14 of those coming in the first half. Meghan Gardler added a career-high 16 points and pulled down six rebounds while Maya Moore had 14 points and five assists. Lorin Dixon paced the Huskies with six assists and had six points in just her second game since returning with the hamstring injury suffered in the preseason.
The only Husky who didn’t score in the game was Kelly Faris.
Ebonie Williams led the Pirates with 9 points while Nicole Emery had six points.
This game was pretty much over from the tip as UConn went on a 17-0 run after the score was tied at 2-2. They just kept increasing their lead from there.
Things were so bad for the Pirates that they had more turnovers (18) than Greene when she scored her 14th point with 4:07 to go in the first half. The Pirates finished with 20 turnovers and just 12 points in the first half.
As Big East play continues for the Huskies, we can expect more games like this until someone decides they want to try and play with the Huskies. And all I’ll say is good luck to them as we’ve seen what the Huskies can do to good teams already this season.
The Huskies will be right back in action on Monday night when the South Florida Bulls come to the XL Center. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally on CPTV.
Given the way things started for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team on Saturday, it looked as though they were playing like they were still hungover from the loss to Cincinnati on Wednesday night. They were sluggish and were being outplayed and outscored by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Then Charles Okwandu and Gavin Edwards came off the bench to spark them back into the game when we all knew UConn would need more than Stanley Robinson and Jerome Dyson.
Robinson did lead the way though with 22 points and a career-high 16 rebounds as the Huskies went on to beat the Irish 82-74 in front of a sold-out crowd at the XL Center.
The Huskies improve to 10-3 (1-1 Big East) while the Irish fall to 12-3 (1-1).
If not for Okwandu, the Huskies really could have found themselves in an even bigger hole in the first half. He came off the bench and played like we’d never seen before. He made all five of his shots and finished with 10 points, five rebounds and a block in 14 minutes of action.
Edwards helped out as well in the first half as he had nine of his 13 points. Dyson added 20 points and a career-high 10 assists while Kemba Walker had 10 points and ten assists. Alex Oriakhi led the Huskies with 9 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Big East preseason player of the year Luke Harangody paced the Irish with 31 points and nine rebounds. Ben Hansbrough, younger brother of former North Carolina star Tyler Hansbrough, had 14 points while Tryone Nash chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds. Tory Jackson led the Irish with eight assists.
UConn started slowly as they fell behind 6-0 before Dyson got them on the board with a layup. The lead got to 10-4 before the Huskies went on 12-5 run to take a 16-15 lead. The rest of the first half would see the teams battle for the lead with UConn chasing the Irish.
The Huskies would eventually take the lead at 30-29 when Dyson made a layup. It was short lived though as Hansbrough nailed a three pointer to take a two point lead. Robinson tied it up at 32 but a Harangody jumper gave the Irish a 34-32 lead.
UConn would grab it’s first lead of the second half when Robinson missed a free throw after making the first one. He came off the line to grab the rebound and missed a layup but got the rebound and slammed it home to give the Huskies a two-point lead at 46-44.
Okwandu made it a 4-point lead but another Hansbrough three gave the Irish the lead back. Walker then made a three to give the Huskies the lead but Farmington High grad Tim Abromaitis put the Irish back in front with a three of his own.
Notre Dame’s got to five points before the Huskies made their comeback taking the lead at 57-56 on an Oriakhi layup. Harangody responded with a jumper that gave the Irish their last lead of the afternoon. UConn then went on a 13-2 run to take control of the game.
The Irish would only get as close as four points the rest of the way as the Huskies would hit their free throws down the stretch.
Great win for the Huskies on Saturday. I don’t think anyone expected the player that would step would Okwandu. But if he can continue to do this as the season moves forward, he could give UConn’s much maligned front court a boost as Big East play continues.
UConn returns to action on Wednesday night when the Seton Hall Pirates come to Gampel Pavilion. Tip is scheduled for 9 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally on My-TV9 and SNY.
UConn Huskies wide receiver Kashif Moore makes an amazing one-handed catch for a touchdown in UConn’s 20-7 win over South Carolina in the Papajohns.com Bowl on January 2, 2010.
It’s going to be a busy Saturday for UConn Huskies fans as all three major sports teams are in action.
Starting things off will be the men’s basketball team as they will host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the XL Center. Tip is scheduled for 12 noon and the game will be shown nationally on ESPNU. If you can’t catch the game on television, you can listen to Wayne Norman and Phil Chardis on WTIC 96.5 FM.
The women’s basketball team is Newark, NJ to take on the Seton Hall Pirates. That game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m and will be broadcast locally on CPTV. The game is also available on the internet for a fee through Hoop Streams. If you can’t catch the game on television, you can listen to Bob Joyce and Kara Wolters on WTIC 96.5 FM.
And finally, the UConn football team will finish up their season the Papajohns.com Bowl against the South Carolina Gamecocks. The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. If you can’t catch the game on television, you can listen to Joe D’Ambrosio (play-by-play), Kevin Nathan (color) and Sean Mulcahy (sideline reporter) on WTIC/UConn Football Radio Network. UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet at WTIC.com.
UConn Football links
In Addition To Casey Turner The Huskies Have Lost… [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]
UConn ready for SEC test in Birmingham [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]
Senior switch [Neill Ostrout – Connecticut Post]
New Year’s Eve in Birmingham [Neill Ostrout – Connecticut Post]
Congratulations To UConn DE Lindsey Witten [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]
A Busy Day In Birmingham [UConnHuskies.com]
Before bowl game, UConn learns about racial injustice [Connecticut Post]
UConn football notebook: Huskies finish bowl practices [Connecticut Post]
UConn Gets History Lesson In Birmingham [Hartford Courant]
Seniors Have Fun At Last UConn Practice [Hartford Courant]
Dez Sez: Postcard From Birmingham [Hartford Courant]
Huskies’ D has final shot at redemption [The Day]
Huskies notebook [The Day]
UConn’s Wilson at home for a bowl game [The Republican-American]
UConn football notes: Huskies get history lesson in Birmingham [The Republican-American]
UConn places conference call; USC answers [The State]
[Video] Bowl report: USC-UConn matchups [The State]
Bowl game is a family battle for USC president [The State]
Fighting through adversity [The Big Spur]
Playing for Jazz: UConn copes with teammate’s slaying [The Birmingham News]