Louisville vs. Xavier
December 10, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2005
Louisville Forward Missy Taylor On the game "We were having a hard time matching up. We were in our zone defense and we were having a hard time covering the shooters. We were getting two guards on the same side and the post were getting screened-in, not being able to help out the guard, or the guards we getting too consumed with the point guard and not getting over. So we basically switched up and went to our man defense and we were able to get things back under control. We also pressed a little bit and got a little bit more momentum with some steals."
"I think we did a better job of executing things down the stretch when things really counted. I think sometimes we get caught up in our fast paced game and transition, and don't always make the best decisions. I think this game we really buckled down and really paid attention to what were supposed to be doing."
Louisville guard Helen Johnson On the Xavier's zone defense: "I thought they would go back to man-to-man after we kept hitting threes. We were able to create open shots open looks, drives, and penetration with the zone."
Louisville forward Angel McCoughtry On giving the team a lift "When coach puts me in he tells me to lift the team, to go out there and get emotional and win. So that's basically what I try to do. When we came in were struggling a little bit, but I knew we had to come in a play hard and change the game around and make a run. That's kind of what the team did, we lifted ourselves back up and made a run and took back the lead. The crowd was amazing today and that helped us."
Louisville Head Coach Tom Collen "This was a good win for us. This was a good basketball team that we beat. I think it's a team that will be in the NCAA tournament. They'll compete real well in the Atlantic 10. Things are starting to come together for us. I think we're a team that can score a lot of points. We were a little afraid pressing this team, but we put in a new press that I thought was effective against them. We went into our zone defense and they clearly rained some threes on us. I think all in all, the game plan from a defensive standpoint was to do two things. One was to keep the ball out of Tara Boothe's hands, and I thought the zone accomplished that. And two, we kept them off the free throw line. They clearly steped up and took advantage of the openings we had in the zone and that was the one thing that probably kept them in the game down the stretch.
On their comeback "We went to man and I think we took them out of their game. To our credit, we guarded Boothe pretty good man-to-man and didn't give her any good looks, which was what I was afraid was going to happen. She missed some shots, and they turned the ball over a little bit. We couldn't sit in; the zone anymore, they clearly figured it out. There wasn't anyone left on the floor that didn't feel like they could step up and make an open shot, so we had to make some adjustments to take their open looks away.
On the bench play "Helen Johnson probably should be starting for this team right now, and she's probably close to winning that position. Sometimes I stick with my veterans too long. I like the role that Connie Neal has been playing for us, she stepped up and played well. She hasn't done anything to lose her job, but I think what's starting to happen with Helen is that she's clearly stepping up and is ready to take the job whether Connie is ready to relinquish it or not."
Xavier Head Coach Kevin McGuff
On the game "I felt like we had a great chance to win the game, but throughout the course of the night, it was too much Louisville rebounding and too much Helen Johnson for us to overcome. I think we got enough good shots, and we shot 42 percent from the three, but I think it took away our overall aggressiveness on both ends. It lulled us into a slower pace."
On Boothe "She took 16 shots and I thought she got enough good shots, they just didn't go in tonight."
On Louisville "They're deep and they're talented and that really came out tonight, specifically with Helen Johnson coming off the bench. She's really starting to play well and she's terrific."
On Candace Bingham "I was really happy with Candace. She did a great job off the bench. She's really talented and I think is really coming into her own, and she's going to be a great player."
