Louisville vs. Vermont
December 21, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2008
Louisville, Ky. - Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On the Christmas break distraction)
"There is no question that it was distraction. You have a group of players that have worked hard for three and half months and they finally get the chance to go home and spend time with their family and friends. I could really tell before the game in the shoot around that they were excited to play but excited for it to end so they could start their way home. Offensively, I thought it really showed, w e played really sloppy on the offensive end. Defensively, I thought we played really hard for the most part."
(On the pregame speech)
"It didn't completely sink in. On the defensive end, I thought it was one of the best games that we have played. The last four or five minuets things got a little sloppy. For us to hold their best-player, who is probably going to be Player of the Year in their conference, to three points and only five shot attempts I thought we did a great job on."
(On Angel McCoughtry)
"She struggled tonight. I thought they did a very good job of trying to frustrate her. Defensively, they would not help off on her on. When she got the ball and drove they ran two players at her. Angel has got to continue to improve by making sure she tries to make her teammates better. She will make that extra pass and we have to make some shots. We are getting Brandie Radde some wide-open shots and other perimeter players some open looks but we have to make a few of them. Once we make a few of them, then they can not run two or three players at Angel every time she drives."
(On Byrd)
"Deseree' (Byrd), the progress she has made since our first exhibition game is remarkable. I would put her up there with any point guard in our league. She still has some things to learn but for a kid who has never played at this position, I am really pleased. She has come along and she has developed into a good leader on our team."
Junior Forward Candyce Bingham
(On the turnovers) "I think it was just a lack of focus, honestly. I know Christmas break is starting and everybody is excited to get home. The coaching staff was worried about that before the game. After warm-ups he said that he was worried that we were not in the game. He thought we were going to come out and play hard but mentally he was worried. I think it showed. We had too many turnovers."
"I think we were more anxious than anything else. I don't think that we were trying to do too much."
(On the Christmas break)
"We have four days off and come back the day after Christmas. Then we have three games after that. Everybody is going to have a Merry Christmas but we have to come back and get focused again. There are only three games left until our BIG EAST Conference games start."
Sophomore Guard Deseree' Byrd
(On no offensive rhythm)
"I think defensively we were there. We played hard and that's what we are kind of known for, our defense. We showed up defensively. On the offensive end, we were not mentally all there."
(On the 12-1 run)
"If we buckle down and play good defense, the offense will slowly come to us. It kind of did at that point but we had to fight for it."
(On executing without Angel)
"In the past we have had a hard time executing without her in the game. But today I thought we did a pretty good job. We were turning the ball over even when she was in the game."
