Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • Page C02

C2 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 20U THE HARTFORD COURANT SP RTS Mi 1 year; seven losses in a row by double digits; 108th out of 120 teams in total defense; and 103rd in points allowed at 34.25 a game. The way he left UConn, some Huskies fans are smiling. The Great One apparently doesn't think Twitter is all that great these days. Paulina Gretzky shut down her Twitter feed, some feeling her father, Wayne, is the reason. Apparently photos of Paulina, an aspiring actress and model, were creating too much of a stir.

He sent her to the penalty box. The Red Sox won't confirm it, but everybody is reporting Bobby Valentine will be the 45th manager of the Red Sox. No word if he'll have to give up his job as the public safety director in Stamford. jotterbeincourant.com Matt Remillard, 25, first stepped into the Manchester Police Athletic League boxing gym because he had to: He had been arrested for a petty crime and ordered to perform community service there. That was more than 10 years ago.

Now he won't be stepping into a ring anytime soon. He's headed to prison, sentenced to five years Tuesday for fracturing a man's skull with a baseball bat last year in what police say was a fight over a woman. High school football fans: We're here to get you prepared for the next level. The quarterfinal winners from Tuesday night move on to the semis on Saturday. The day is expected to be nice but cool, in the 40s.

Jordan Brown was a great back at Glastonbury and has been dynamic for Bryant University. He was named Northeast Conference offensive player of the year after rushing for 1,815 yards. The New York Giants could use Brown; they can't run the ball, normally a trademark. Nothing giant about these numbers: They started 5-2, are 1-3 since and play Green Bay Sunday, which means they likely are headed to 6-6 with four games left. After Drew I Brees lit them up on MNF, they face Aaron Rod- gers.

Brees, Rodgers and Tom Brady of the Patriots all could break Dan Marino's 27-year-old record for passing yards in a season Former UConn QB Dan Orlovsky will start Sunday for winless Indianapolis against the Patriots, his first start since 2008, when he was with the 0-16 Lions. Can't bet against Orlovsky's old coach, Randy Edsall, having success at Maryland, like he did at UConn, but what a first year: We could fill The Fly with bad numbers for the Terps but here are a few: a 2-10 season after going 9-4 last UCONN WOMEN PRESS BOX EDITED FROM TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICES Auriemma Easing Into Season, Trying Out Different Looks BASEBALL Cubs have Pujols on radar The Cubs have contacted Albert Pujols' agent to express interest in the three-time NL Most Valuable Player, according to an ESPN.com report. The slugging first baseman has played his entire career with the Cardinals, hitting .328 with 445 home runs over 11 seasons. Though it's still very early, the Cubs appear positioned to join in the pursuit, along with the Marlins and Cardinals. The Cubs are also believed to have interest in first baseman Prince Fielder, according to ESPN.com.

The speculation increased last week after the Cubs hired former Brewers coach Dale Sveum as manager. Also, Greg Maddux will leave his special assistant's role with the Cubs and will likely join the Rangers in a similar position. The Giants extended the contracts of manager Bruce Bochy and general manager Brian Sabean, keeping them through 2013 with a club option for 2014. The Royals agreed to a one-year deal with right-handed reliever Jonathan Broxton pending a physical. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: A source told ESPN.com that Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen is the top candidate to replace the fired Joe Paterno at Penn State.

Washington State fired coach Paul Wulff after a 9-40 record, including a 4-8 mark this season. Justin Combs, son of music and entertainment mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, committed to play football at UCLA. Combs, a 5-foot-9 cornerback from lonaPrep (N.Y.), chose the Bruins over Wyoming, Virginia and Illinois. TCU senior kicker Ross Evans practiced, but his remaining future with the Horned Frogs remains questionable. Evans was arrested by Denton, Texas, police last week to face one count of misdemeanor criminal mischief for allegedly kicking in the door of an apartment.

NBA: A Minnesota federal judge has put the legal fight between the NBA's players and owners on hold to give the two sides time to finish their collective bargaining agreement. U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz granted a request by the players and issued a stay of all court proceedings on Tuesday. The stay is valid until Dec. 9, by which time a formal collective bargaining agreement is expected to be approved.

Former NBA star Yao Ming released the first-ever bottles of his new wine in China. Yao's company, Yao Family Wines, has produced 5,000 cases of its first release at a cost of $289 per bottle, which includes hefty Chinese import fees. The wine will be available in the U.S. next year for $170 per bottle. AUTO RACING: Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone said Europe likely will be left with only five Grand Prixs in the coming years when the sport moves to other countries.

Ecclestone, 81, told Marca newspaper that "Europe is a good place for tourism and not much else. Europe is finished." Lotus Renault GP confirmed that former Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen will join the team and make a comeback in the circuit next year. Richard Childress Racing has named Drew Blickensderfer crew chief for Jeff Burton. SOCCER: An investigation into the death of Wales manager Gary Speed has determined that he was hanged Sunday from the garage of his home, according to a report in The Guardian, a British national daily newspaper. Speed's wife discovered the body in the garage of their home on Sunday.

The inquest heard that police weren't treating the death as suspicious, the paper said. Tatjana Haenni, head of the women's competition for FIFA said it would be a "pity" if the Women's Professional Soccer league in the U.S. failed to survive. MLS' 2012 season will open March 10 with six games, while the expansion Montreal Impact will play their first MLS home game at Olympic Stadium on March 17. Former Italy prime minister Silvio Berlusconi says he will return to his role as president of AC Milan.

Berlusconi resigned as premier this month amid Italy's economic turmoil. GOLF: Rory Mcllroy said he plans to play in more U.S. tournaments in 2012. Mcllroy, the U.S. Open champion, is ranked a career-best No.

2 in the world heading into the Hong Kong Open, which starts Thursday. Dustin Johnson underwent right knee surgery and will miss all golf tournaments until 2012, his agent confirmed. Johnson had arthroscopic surgery to repair damaged cartilage and should be ready to compete again by mid-January. weekend against an unimpressive field at the World Vision Classic at Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies held Fairleigh Dickinson, Buffalo and Dayton to a combined 100 points and won the three games by an average of 47.3 points.

One of the by-products was the record for most consecutive home victories (89) in the history of NCAA women's basketball. "Our goal last weekend was to learn our offense and run it against someone else's defense," said Mosqueda-Lewis. "And any player would rather play three games in three days than just practice." But there were some aspects that troubled Auriemma, particularly with the game against Texas the 2010-11 national champion, coming up next Tuesday at the XL Center. "When we are good, we are really good," Auriemma said. "When we are not playing well, when we are not in sync, we throw the ball away too much.

That is my biggest complaint from the weekend that we either score or throw the ball away. I don't think that is going to get it done against really good teams." The Huskies committed 40 turnovers during the World Vision Classic, compared to 72 by their opponents. They also shot just 46.4 percent (90 of 194), far below their usual standard. "We are just kind of playing; whatever shots are there, we take them," Auriemma said. "It hasn't been any concerted effort to get the ball inside or not get the ball inside, it just has happened.

"But with each game that goes, we are going to have to find other ways to score other than just shoot 30 threes a game or score in transition. Those things are not going to happen on a regular basis. At shoot-around before Sunday's win over Dayton all we worked on was either getting the ball into the lane, passing it into the lane or driving it into the lane. We are not big to begin with, and getting the ball in to Stefanie Dolson means something good is going to happen more times than not. She is either going to make a shot of find somebody who is open." By JOHN ALTAVILLA jaltavillacourant.com STORRS Winning the first six games with comparative ease is expected at UConn.

It's the way the Huskies generally do business. What's always more interesting is watching Geno Auriemma and his staff make the various components snap together. Granted, UConn's players are generally the biggest and boldest in the national puzzle and most programs don't have freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis as a corner piece.Still, securing everything into its proper place is a process. And that process continues Wednesday night when the No. 2 Huskies (6-0) play Towson (4-1) at the XL Center.

Right now, Auriemma says, his bench runs comfortably 6V2 deep on an 11-player team. "It depends on what day," Auriemma said. "It could go seven or eight down the road. Nine? I don't know. But it would take a while for that to happen.

I think players are starting to figure some things out. But after the first five and Kaleena is six one of those other guys usually plays pretty well. You just don't know who it is." Those "other guys" are freshmen Kiah Stokes and Brianna Banks, and junior Heather Buck. All have played well in certain situations. "Heather Buck goes in the game and rebounds.

So you know that she's going to do that," Auriemma said. "Brianna Banks? She gets the ball and drives it to the basket. Kiah Stokes? Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. "So, we know something about the six and we know that we don't know a lot about the other guys. Hopefully, we'll find out more as we go along." The Tigers have won three straight since being blown out by Maryland 82-46 on Nov.

16. They have been led by Krystal Parnell, who had a double-double (20 points, 11 rebounds) against UMBC last weekend, and Nyree Williams, their top rebounder. UConn is coming off an impressive REGIONAL DIGEST the line. Talk To Focus On Student-Athletes For college-bound student-athletes and their families, Jack Renkens of Recruiting Realities will present "It's a Game Know the Rules," at East Lyme High School on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.

Central Connecticut State University senior defensive lineman Charles Williams has been named to the New England Football Writers' All-New England football team. Coaches Polls Bunnell-Stratford, SufSeld, Glastonbury and Immaculate-Danbury were voted the top high school boys and girls soccer teams in the final coaches polls. See Page C7 UHart Men Lose The University of Hartford men's basketball team led by 9 at one point in the second half, but lost to Yale, 74-69, at home. Genesis Maciel and Wes Cole each had 16 points for the 0-7 Hawks. Yale (4-2) was led by Austin Morgan's 26 points.

Yale made 23 of 32 free throws. Hartford was 11 of 14 from TOWSON AT NO. 2 UCONN WOMEN THE WEEK AHEAD Wed. Thu. Fri.

Sat. Sun. Mon. Tues. UConn Cincinnati, football noon UConn men's Arkansas, basketball 3:15 p.m.

UConn Towson, Texas women's 7 p.m. 7 p.m. basketball UofH Central Quinnipiac, men's 5 p.m. 7 p.m. basketball UofH Marist, St.

John's, women's 7 p.m. 1p.m. basketball Central Bryant, Sacred Heart, men's 7 p.m. 3:30 p.m. basketball Central Holy Cross, Sacred Heart, women's 7 p.m.

1 p.m. basketball Whale Springfield, 7:05 p.m. 7 p.m. 3 p.m. Bruins Maple Maple Leafs, Penguins, Winnipeg, Leafs, 7 p.m.

7 p.m. 8:30 p.m. 7 p.m. Rangers Hurricanes, Lightning, Maple 7 p.m. 7 p.m.

Leafs, 7 p.m. Site: XL Center Time: 7 p.m. TV: CPTV (Bob Picozzi and Meghan Culmo) Radio: WTIC-AM 1080 (Bob Joyce and KaraWolters) Series history: First meeting Streaks: Towson W3; UConn, W6 Towson (4-1) 1 KRYSTAL PARNELL, 5-6, 11.8 ppg. Leads team in assists (21) 55 NYREE WILLIAMS, 6-1, H.O -Averaging double-double (10.8 rpg) 22 TANISHA McTILLER, 5-7, 10.0 Only 31.4 percent from floor 24 MEREDITH KENNEDY, 5-11, 8.5 7 of 12 from three 33 SHEREE LEDBETTER, 5-10, 7.8 Great FT shooter (86.7 percent) 2 DEREE FOOKS, 6-1, 6.6 -Averaging 4.0 rebounds UConn (6-0) 5 CAROLINE DOTY, 5-10, 6.0 -7 of 12 field goals are threes 3 TIFFANY HAYES, 5-10, 14.2 -Scored 30 points vs. Buffalo 14 BRIA HARTLEY, 5-7, 13.5 -Leads team with 23 assists 31 STEFANIE DOLSON, 6-5, 10.8 Shoots 59.1 percent 34 KELLY FAR IS, 5-H, 6.0 -19 steals (tied with Hayes) 13 BRIANNA BANKS, 5-9, 6.5 -Looking for 1st three (0-for-5) 23 KALEENA MOSQUEDA-LEWIS, 6-0, 15.5 2-time Big East rookie of the week.

41 KIAH STOKES, 6-3, 4.5-10 blocks in 92 minutes What To Watch For Lasttuneup: The Huskies cruised through the World Vision Classic to set an NCAA record for consecutive home victories (89). The last time UConn was beaten at Gampel or the XL Center was in March 2007 in the Big East tournament championship game against Rutgers. Next up for UConn is Texas the 2010-11 national champion, Tuesday at the XL Center. Looking for roles: The Huskies will try to use the game to continue establishing roles the players must perfect as the season progresses. Geno Auriemma has been able to give his bench plenty of minutes in the first six games.

Better eye: UConn's perimeter shooting hasn't been up to its usual standards, but its free throw accuracy is improving. It was 40 of 47 (85.1 percent) against Buffalo and Dayton on Saturday and Sunday. John Altavilla I ialtavillacourant.com ON THE AIR 9:30 p.m.: Wisconsin at North Carolina. ESPN T15 p.m.: Notre Dame at Gonzaga. ESPN2 GOLF 12:00 a.m.: UBS Hong Kong Open, First Round.

GOLF HOCKEY 7 p.m.: Bruins at Maple Leafs. NESN 7:30 p.m.: Lightning at Red Wings. Versus SOCCER 5 p.m.: U-17 Friendly: United States vs. France. FSC BASKETBALL 7 p.m.: Duquesne vs.

Pittsburgh. CBSSN 7 p.m.: Women's College, Towson at Connecticut. CPTV, WTIC 7il5 p.m.: Indianaat North Carolina State. ESPN2 7il5 p.m.: Penn State at Boston College. ESPNU 7:30 p.m.: Florida State at Michigan State.

ESPN 9il5 p.m.: Virginia Tech at Minnesota. ESPN2 9il5 p.m.: Wake Forest at Nebraska. ESPNU.