Louisville vs. New Hampshire
December 30, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2008
Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On Angel McCoughtry's performance)
"I thought that she did an outstanding job. She did not force anything and went 5 for 9. I thought that she was playing unselfish. I thought she played a really, really good game and what is unfortunate is the people that were not here will see how she only scored 14 points and she must be in a slump. That is fine because she will come out and score 30 here soon when she needs to. If we can keep getting productivity from the rest of the team like we are now, she does not have to score 30 points. If we can continue to get 12 points from Keshia Hines and Gwen Rucker we are actually going to be a team that has a post game. That is very encouraging because we have not had one until these last two games. It did not matter who we played. I am very positive and excited about that."
(On what the team got out of this tournament)
"I think what we got out of it was that we were able to play our freshmen a lot. That is really what I wanted. I knew when we did the schedule we were going to have 5 to 6 freshmen and we are going to have to count on them. I did not expect that we were going to have to count on them as much as we are because of our injuries. I thought that we were still going to have some upperclassmen in the lineup and playing. Janae Howard, today, played the best game that she has played all year. I don't care about her going 3 of 5 from the three-point line, Janae (Howard) defended better than she has all year. I told her at halftime that I did not know if it was possible that she could guard someone. It had been such a grind to get her to get into a stance and see the weak side and switch on the screen. Tonight, I could not have been more proud of her because she actually got down and made her mind up and said I'm going to do it. She did it. Now that she has shown that she can defend, now I can play her in a tight game. We do not have anymore 30-point wins. Becky Burke is starting to do things our way instead of her way. Her way is not very good and I have told her that over and over. She finally understands it and she is starting to perform better for us on the floor. I do have confidence that two of those freshmen are going to step up and play. I can not tell you who they will be, but I know that two will step up and play and that is really why we played these three games."
(On the team's progress)
"The most glaring thing that we have improved on that had been dismal the first 12 games was our post play. We could not even make a layup let alone six points in the post. Count Candyce Bingham out because she is not a true post player. She is a slasher four player. We could not get a back to the basket, post bucket the first 12 games. Now Keshia (Hines) is starting to get more comfortable and knows we have confidence in her. She has just played outstanding. She is just now learning to finish. Now, I think that when people watch us they are going to see that they have got to guard our post. The past two games, we have actually been shooting from the outside better. I think that is going to open some things up for us."
Sophomore Guard Deseree' Byrd
(On this week's three games)
"Today was a much better performance - but we really didn't follow the game plan. Obviously the game plan wasn't to have 18 plus turnovers each game this week. We've just got to limit our turnovers and get more assists on the board. These last two games, I think we did a pretty good job with assists."
(On Angel McCoughtry's performance)
"I think she had a great performance. Angel's keeps getting better and better everyday. She didn't force as many shots and she had an awesome game. She had a lot of assists, she looked to pass a lot more and I think she's a great leader."
(On the team's performance this week)
"They were all wins, so that's a plus. I think we've got to get better every game, no matter who we play. At some points we were out there playing hard to get better and at some points we were just kind of playing."
(On staying focused)
"These games were pretty difficult. These games were like a roller coaster, we had our ups and downs. I don't think they were necessarily a walk in the park. Every team came out and played hard."
(On what the team needs to do in the BIG EAST)
"Turnovers have been one of our big problems, so we need to take care of the ball more and the rest of the game will come to us. We just need to come out from the tip with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. We seem to start off slow some games, but these last three games, we did come out hard and fast. I think if we come out at a good pace in the BIG EAST, we can go far."
Senior Forward Angel McCoughtry
(On playing after yesterday's off-game)
"I'm not worried at all because I know when I have a bad day, the team is going to pick up the slack. I just came out focused and just tried to have fun with the team. I never worry about yesterday, always today."
(On the last three games)
"I think we did OK, I still think we need to get better. There are no blowouts in the BIG EAST. We've got to learn how to play tough games and not turn it over in tough situations."
