Biete - Kristall » Seimone Augustus, outside the UConn locke

Puerto Rican lightweight Orlando Cruz said he is not only fighting for himself but also for the gay community.Cruz, who came out in 2012 as boxings first openly gay fighter, will challenge lightweight world titleholder Terry Flanagan on Saturday (beIN Sports Espanol, 11 p.m. ET, same-day tape) at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.Terry Flanagan is a true world champion and will defend his title with everything he has. However, I am prepared and ready for victory and to be crowned the new world champion. I want to inspire the gay community by becoming a world champion on Saturday, Cruz said this week. Terry is a great champion and a real peoples person. More importantly, he respects my life and my choices.He sees the man boxing him and that is it. Everyone has been very supportive since I came out three years ago. I have the support of my family, friends and fans.Cruz, 35, who was a 2000 Olympian for Puerto Rico, lost his first shot at a world title, getting knocked out by then-featherweight titlist Orlando Salido in the seventh round in October 2013 in Las Vegas. Six months later, Cruz lost a 10-round decision to Gamalier Rodriguez.Since then, Cruz (25-4-1, 13 KOs), a southpaw, has won five fights in a row at junior lightweight. He will be moving up from the 130-pound division to the 135-pound lightweight division to face Flanagan.When I look at my story, it makes me hopeful that more people will be inspired to come out, Cruz said. Right now my focus is fully on the big fight on Saturday and winning the WBO lightweight belt. Ive been feeling the love from the British people since I arrived here on Monday. Everyone has been very welcoming to me and I have nothing but respect for them. I am very happy to be here in Cardiff and fighting for another world title.Flanagan (31-0, 12 KOs), a 27-year-old southpaw from England who will be making his fourth title defense, hopes to take care of Cruz and then move on to a bigger fight -- perhaps a unification against the winner of an expected rematch between champion Jorge Linares and Anthony Crolla, Flanagans Manchester, England rival.He said he respects Cruzs lifestyle, but that it makes no difference to him.Look, it was very brave of Orlando to come out, but Im not interested in either his sexuality or his personal life, Flanagan said. Im only interested in him as a boxer; an opponent. Hes a good fighter, but Im going to deal with him. Hector Rondon Jersey . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. Abraham Toro Jersey . 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BATON ROUGE, La. -- UConns Katie Lou Samuelson recognized early on that LSU was exhibiting little respect for her long-range shooting. So the 6-foot-3 sophomore made the Lady Tigers pay with the most prolific game yet in her very promising career.She lit us up from the 3-point line, LSU coach Nikki Fargas said. I didnt feel like we had the awareness that we needed to play somebody of her caliber as far as shooting the 3.Samuelson hit seven 3-pointers en route to a career-high 28 points, Kia Nurse added a season-best 15 points along with eight assists, and No. 3 UConn handed LSU its first loss of the season, 76-53 on Sunday night.I was shooting well and my teammates were getting me the ball, so I was going to keep shooting the 3s, Samuelson said. Im pleased with how I shot today and I just hope thatll carry on to the next game.Crystal Dangerfield added 10 points and Gabby Williams grabbed 10 rebounds for UConn (3-0), which extended college basketballs longest active winning streak to 78 games. Yet Huskies coach Geno Auriemma didnt sound too pleased about how his team looked in its most lopsided victory of the young season. He cringed at UConns 20 turnovers, 17 personal fouls, and six-minute stint without a field goal in the third quarter.Today was a struggle, Auriemma said. The ball was flying all over the place.Samuelson, who was widely seen as one of the nations best freshmen last season, hit seven of her eight made shots from 3-point range and also sank all five of her free throws.Nurse called it a huge luxury to know she could look for Samuelson anywhere on the offensive end and be confident she would hit open shots.Raigyne Moncrief scored 15 points for LSU (3-1), which trailed by 21 at halftime and struggled to get much closer than that for much of the second half. Alexis Hyder added 11 points for the Lady Tigers.UConn began to pull way on consecutive 3s by Nurse and Samuelson, which opened a 10-0 run that pushed the Huskies lead to 31-16.Later the period, Samuelson hit a 3 from the right wing while being fouled by Hyder, completing a four-point play which made it 40-23. Samuelson added a couple free throws to give her 14 points in the first half, and Dangerfields jumper made it 46-25 at halftime.BIG PICTUREUConn: UConnns winning streak is the third longest in college basketball history, behind only its own program record of 90 straight from 2008-10 and the UCLA mens record of 88 consecutive victories from 1971-74.dddddddddddd ... UConn has now beaten 110 straight unranked opponents since losing by a point to then-unranked St. Johns on Feb. 18, 2012.LSU: The Lady Tigers were off to their best start since their 9-0 beginning to the 2009-10 season and their struggles against a juggernaut like UConn doesnt mean this seasons LSU squad wont be competitive in most games. I thought we did some good things defensively, Fargas said, noting that her team played UConn tight for all but the second quarter. We did some things for three quarters that really allowed us to show the potential of this team. ... Senior guard Rina Hill made her season debut after missing the first three games because of a hip injury. She played 15 minutes and had a rebound and an assist.DIFFERENT ERAThe Huskies have now won five straight against LSU and improved to 8-1 all-time in the series, with the lone loss coming in the 2007 NCAA tournament regional finals to a Lady Tigers squad led by current WNBA and U.S. national team player Sylvia Fowles. After the game, Auriemma ran into another former LSU great, Seimone Augustus, outside the UConn locker room, and they chatted about the state of the Lady Tigers compared to about a decade ago.The talent level is just completely different. Its not even night and day, Auriemma said. So from where it was, to where it is today, its not even the same program. You cant even put it in the same category from back then. I dont know all the reasons why, but when that happens it takes a while to get it back.POLL IMPLICATIONSUConn defeated second-ranked Baylor on Thursday, and by winning convincingly at LSU, the Huskies did nothing to dissuade voters from moving them up at least one spot.UP NEXTUConn: The Huskies host Dayton at the on-campus Gampel Pavilion on Tuesday night.LSU: The Lady Tigers travel to the Virgin Islands for the holiday weekend to play in the Paradise Jam, opening against UTEP on Thanksgiving Day. ' ' '