Louisville vs. Cincinnati
January 21, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2009
Louisville, Ky. - Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
"I thought we played extremely well in the first half. I was very pleased with our effort and our energy. We just played a very, very good first half. My concern is that we can't put a 40 minute game together. We're not mentally tough enough to play for 40 minutes. We'll look up at the scoreboard and see it's a 23 or 24 point game and then we start to relax. Unfortunately, the great programs don't do that. We'll watch the film and break some things down and hopefully we can continue to learn. If we can play a 40 minute game we've got a chance to be a very good basketball team."
(On Cincinnati's turnovers)
"That's just the way we play. We're pressing, we're trying to trap once they cross half court. We read the next pass extremely well. We did a very good job and got them a little frustrated and passive. That's how we play, I was really pleased with that in the first half. Then we come out in the second half and they get 15 points off of our turnovers and that's kind of where the game changed. We started to get careless with the ball and they converted off of it."
(On this game as preparation for playing at Connecticut)
"For the first half, yes but for the second half, no. It's going to be a test for us no question about it. They are an outstanding basketball team. We're not going to go up there and evaluate our season on one game. If we go up there and win, that's great - we still have to play more. If we lose, we'll still have to play more. Our goal is like it's been all year - to continue to improve. We'll go up there and play hard and compete and we'll see what happens. They've been playing some exciting basketball."
"We are going to go up there to win, that's why you play the game. It's going to be a good game. We're going to play hard. They've been playing some outstanding basketball. It's going to take our best game. We're going to have to have our entire team show up. The first half tonight, I thought everybody showed up to play, but the second half - we can't have breakdowns like we have. If we want to play with them and compete, we have to come out and play for 40 minutes and hopefully we'll do that on Monday night. If we do, then we'll see what happens."
(On the team not getting caught looking ahead to Connecticut tonight)
"We talked to our players. We don't take any game for granted. We're not there yet where we can just show up and just know we're going to win. We have to come out and play hard. Fortunately for us, we did that in the first half, I was very pleased. It's going to be interesting. It's going to be fun to see how our players respond to this, how our players respond to the challenge. We challenged them in the locker room after the game. How good do we want to be? In order for us to take that next step, we've got to come out and practice hard so that will transfer over to the game."
Louisville Senior Angel McCoughtry
(On Louisville's start)
"We started off good, but the second half was just too slow. We can not do that anymore. We play UConn next week and we cannot afford to do that."
(On Louisville's second half play)
"We just need to play hard. It is just about playing hard."
(On playing Connecticut)
"It is just another game. We are going to play Louisville basketball. Whatever the outcome is as long as we play Louisville basketball and we play hard that is all I care about. We can contend with the top. We want to be at the top and we will not let up."
Louisville Senior Candyce Bingham
(On Louisville's start)
"We were not surprised because we knew we are capable of doing that. Practices have been good and we have been working on focus and defense."
(On Louisville's defense)
"That was one of the keys to the game. Our emphasis was on defense but that did not really carry over to the second half. They outscored us in the second half that is something we are going to have to get better at."
