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.

With the UConn Huskies women's basketball team getting ready to meet the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Sweet 16 of the 2012 NCAA Women's Tournament in the Kingston Region on Sunday, they meet with the media to talk about the game.

Here are the quotes from UConn head coach Geno Auriemma as well as Stefanie Dolson, Tiffany Hayes and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.

Connecticut Head Coach Geno Auriemma

What impresses you about Penn State backcourt

"I think like most good teams you can't pigeon hole them. You can't say they are really good at this and are bad at that. They are pretty versatile. They push the ball up the floor quickly. I remember playing them a few years ago at Madison Square Garden and it was the same mentality. They are trying to get as many possessions as they can. Both their guards do a really good job of attacking you every time they touch it. They can both put it on the floor; they can both shoot the ball. I think most good teams that's why they would get to the regionals because they have a good back court."

On this year compared to the last six or seven

"I don't think it's ever easy. There are just varying degrees of different.  It's never as easy as it looks on the outside. It's always difficult when you lose somebody like Diana Taurasi or a Maya Moore because they did so many things for your team it's almost like losing three players.  Then you come back and you're hoping that your juniors and your seniors kind of step right in and fill that role. This year we struggled a little with that.  They were not here enough to really understand what makes us who we are but we won anyway. Today kids are more about if we win, we are really good and that's the problem because we started off so well, it was inevitable that we would reach a point in February where it was going to be a little bit of a struggle.  It took a little longer then the coaching staff was hoping it would take. But there are 300 plus Division I schools that wish they had just one of our problems and I don't think we have any."

On revaluating your life and how much you enjoy your job compared to 10 years ago

"No, I really don't do that. I'm normal in a sense that I'm like everybody else. I think when you get to reflect a little bit about where you are and what you've done and how long you've been doing it I think naturally question if this is still what you want to be doing. Do you still get the same enjoyment out of it that you used to? Are you still having the same impact on the players that you used to have or that you want to have? Do you still get the same response that you want to get?  I've never been one to really think that much about the future and I'm not generally one to look at the past and think that that's an indicator of anything that will happen in the future.  Other than that I've been lucky and I just continue to think that I'll always be lucky. That's the one thing that I've kind of held on to. I don't get to an age and start to do that self-evaluation thing that people talk about or take stock of my life. I was playing with my grandson the other day and we are looking to buy a plays cape with all these swings and slide and I'm asking myself whatever happened to a tree and a rock and you find a way to amuse yourself all day long. Things have changed a lot in 40 or 50 years for me. Other than that I don't really worry too much about the basketball stuff."

What about a 17 year old freshman girl is different for you as a coach at 58 than it was at 38

"I have less patience for these guys now than I did when I was 30 something. I used to try and see things from their standpoint and now I'm like a lot of old people they don't really give a shit about anybody but themselves. Have you ever been to a place where I'm signing autographs? There will be nine eight year olds in line to get an autograph and some 75 year old will just knock them all over to get an autograph. They will bulldoze the kids thinking, you know what I'm 75 and I don't have much time left, you have the rest of your life to wait for that autograph, so get out of my way. I'm getting to an age where I have less patience. I've been doing this for 30 something years and if I say do something then do it. Don't look at me and ask why. When I was 35 I would say ok here is why we want to do this. So I guess the difference is I have less patience and they have less attention span. Not a good combination. I'm trying to teach them to have better concentration for longer periods of time and they're testing my patients. So that's how I've been spending my year this year."

On Penn State and how they like to push the ball and how pace will play a factor in the game

"Yeah, I think. They have struggled in a lot of half court games where the game has been low scoring. Their strength is their ability to make people play at their pace. I don't think either team wants to walk the ball up the floor.  It will be a test of wills. They want to play their way, we want to play our way and our two ways are similar but not exactly. We do a couple of things that they don't do, so hopefully we will take advantage of those things."

What are the keys of establishing a program at the start

"I remember when UConn was just like URI probably 1985 there was very little difference between UConn and URI. I would say their women's program was ahead of ours in those days.  I think as a school we were very similar and as an athletic department maybe we were similar. The biggest difference was we were in the BIG EAST and they were not.  By us being in the BIG EAST we had a huge advantage over a school like URI. That gave us a platform to work with.  So much of it is getting a couple of those kids each year.  We got two kids my first year that had a big impact on the program, then we had two more the following year, then we got two more the following year and two more the following year.  After about four years we had about eight pretty good players in the program that I could trust and count on and we went from there. It's unfortunate that in the women's game there is no money involved at the beginning so you are not going to get all the things that you want you need all the time until you prove you can win. This is not an easy job here at Rhode Island. Not easy on the men's side or women's side. I think Kathy is a great person and she did a great job at Boston College but this is not an easy place and I'm sure there are built in issues that are difficult to overcome but like I said we had the luxury of the BIG EAST."

Compare the current Penn State team to 2004's

"It's completely different but it's still Penn State. When you grow up in Pennsylvania, and you're a Catholic growing up in Philadelphia, two things you really get sick of hearing about are Notre Dame and Penn State. It's just shoved down your throat every day. The fact that Coach Washington played at Notre Dame and coaches at Penn State, she has major issues with me right now. There is a big difference in Penn State between now and 2004. There is a much more balanced approach that they have right now. Kelly when she was there took an inordinate amount of shots to get what she got. God bless her, she made most of them. We felt going into that game that if we were able to shut her out that it would be very difficult for Penn State to beat us. I don't know that that's the case today. I don't know that they are just Maggie Lucas. I think there is a little more to this team than that.  I watch her play a little bit and she seems to do a little more than catch and shoot, catch and shoot. Even though they are similar, they go about it in a different way which makes this team a little more dangerous than that one."

To see the quotes from the players, please click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

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.

Here's the release from UConn announcing that UConn Huskies women's basketball players Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Bria Hartley and Tiffany Hayes have been honored by the ECAC.

STORRS, Conn. – Freshman University of Connecticut women’s basketball standout Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, sophomore Bria Hartley and senior Tiffany Hayes have each been honored by the Eastern College Athletic Conference as announced by the ECAC on Thursday.

Mosqueda-Lewis was honored as the ECAC Rookie of the Year while Hartley was selected to the First Team and Hayes was named to the Second Team.

Mosqueda-Lewis leads the team at 15.0 points per game and was honored as the 2011-12 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.  The Anaheim Hills, Calif. native established a new UConn record for 3-point field goals made in a season by a freshman and is ranked in the top-20 nationally in 3-point field goal percentage.  She was also honored as the BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player after leading the Huskies to their 18^th title and is averaging a team-high 18.8 points per game this postseason.

Hartley, a BIG EAST First Team honoree, is third on the team at 13.8 points per game and is second on the squad with 130 assists.  The North Babylon, N.Y. native is also second on the squad at 14.2 points per game this postseason.  Hartley was recently honored as an All-Region I selection by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and is still in the running for a spot on the State Farm WBCA All-America Team.

Hayes was selected to the All-BIG EAST First Team for the second-straight year and is second on the team at 14.8 points per game.  She has been a dynamic player for Connecticut this season, averaging 5.7 rebounds and leading the squad with 77 steals.  She is also second in the BIG EAST with a 3-point shooting percentage of .426.  Hayes, who is also a WBCA All-Region I pick, has won seven BIG EAST Championships in her time as a Husky.

To see the full list of ECAC honorees, please click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

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.

Well, I typed up an entire post and accidently deleted the whole thing. So here's the deal quickly.

Alex Oriakhi has decided to leave the UConn Huskies men's basketball program. The news was broken earlier on Wednesday by Kevin Duffy of the CT Post.

Here are the links:

UConn's Alex Oriakhi transferring [CT Post]

UConn's Alex Oriakhi requests transfer from Huskies [CBSSports.com]

Angela Oriakhi Not Sure if Son is Transferring [David Borges - New Haven Register]

Oriakhi Has Asked for Release, is Exploring Options [David Borges - New Haven Register]

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.

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.

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn Huskies women's basketball players Bria Hartley and Tiffany Hayes as well as head coach Geno Auriemma after their 72-26 win over the Kansas State Wildcats in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament on Monday night.

Quotes courtesy of UConn Athletics:

Bria Hartley, Sophomore, Guard

On Tonight’s Play On Defense:

I think it was definitely close to a perfect game on defense, but you can always do better. We came out today with a lot more intensity then we did last game. We used that last game to play better defensively and we were able to get in the passing lanes, get steals and get some points.

On What Tonight’s Overall Performance:

We just came out really well defensively. I know they would have like to have a lot more open shots to score more points. We just concentrate really hard on what we can control on defense. We just focus on what we do.

On The Focus On Team Play And That Fact That Anyone Can Make A Big Contribution To The Team’s Success:

We all know our roles on this team, and we know what we’re supposed to do. The main thing for us when we are doing really well is that we are communicating. We’re all talking to each other; we’re all on the same page just making sure we all know what’s going on out there. When we’re together like that, we are just a hard team to stop.

Tiffany Hayes, Senior, Guard

On UConn’s Play In The First Half:

I think the last game we had a lot of breakdowns on defense, especially in the first half, and it motivated us to come today and really be focused on defense. We talked a lot on ‘D’ in this game, so I think that led us to getting steals and them not being able to score with open looks.

To see what Auriemma has to say as well as Kansas State head coach Deb Patterson and her players, click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

The Kansas State Wildcats had been seeded in the UConn Huskies women's basketball team in previous years but the two teams have never matched up on the hardwood. After what Geno Auriemma's team did to the Wildcats on Monday night, they'll probably be hoping to be seeded somewhere else in coming years.

Once again, UConn's defense was stifling again and the offense was clicking on all cylinders as they went on to a very easy 72-26 win over the Wildcats in front of 4,372 at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT.

With the win, the Huskies (31-4) advance to the Sweet 16 where they'll take on the winner of Tuesday's Penn State/LSU matchup on Sunday. It's the 19th straight year that UConn has advanced to at least the Sweet 16.

Bria Hartley led the Huskies with 16 points, scoring 13 of them in the first half. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis added 15 points while Kiah Stokes had a career-high 13 points to go along with nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

Tiffany Hayes rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 11 points and also pulled down nine rebounds. As per her usual, Kelly Faris had a nice all around game with five points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Brittany Chambers paced the Wildcats with 11 points and had six rebounds. Jalana Childs chipped in with six points and six rebounds.

Here are the highlights from the game:

UConn Huskies vs Kansas State Wildcats 2012 NCAA Women's Tournament Second Round box score

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Photo credit: John Woike - Hartford Courant (No. 10 in gallery)