Louisville vs. Syracuse
February 03, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2009
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On the first half lead)
"I thought we did a very good job after the first eight minutes. We started to attack their press. We started to make diagonal passes and take chances instead of throwing the ball back and forth. We got Becky Burke some open looks and she knocked down a few of them. We did a very good job with throwing the ball into the post and scoring in transition and also in post seals. The first seven minutes of the game we had nine turnovers. We ended up with 11 turnovers in the last 33 minutes. We took care of the ball and we scored. We had six kids score in double figures and three of them had a double-double. That was a good team performance."
(On Angel McCoughtry's contributions)
"I told the radio, I would love to play with the kid because you get open shots. Everyone is so worried about her, and they should be because the kid is a two-time All-American. You have to know where she is on the floor. As a coach you have got to know where she is. She is very unselfish. Our kids are getting open shots and we are finally starting to knock a few of them down. If we can do that, we have a chance to do some great things. It is the first time all year that we have had six kids reach double figures. She (McCoughtry) knows how to go after the ball. Tonight Syracuse did a really good job of making sure that they did not gamble and throw passes when she was close so she would not steal the ball. She attacked the weak side board and was getting defensive board after defensive board and came up with 20 rebounds."
(On Becky Burke's performance)
"She stepped up and really played well. This was the best game she has played all year and not just because she scored 11 points, she had two assists and no turnovers. I thought she defended well and she kept people in front of her. She was having fun and excited to be out there playing. It is important for us. We have to have somebody step up and make some shots."
Senior Forward Candyce Bingham
"Coach talked a lot about other people stepping up, that's what we needed. A lot of us did a very good job of that. We had six in double figures and Angel had 20 rebounds. So I think we came through with what coach wanted us to do."
(On Angel helping the team even without a big offensive night)
"Well she had 20 rebounds and two assists. I think that we all have realized that if Angel isn't scoring or whatever, she's learning to pick it up in other areas. We all have to step up, we know she might have a bad night one night and that's everybody else's responsibility to step up."
"Syracuse was the first team we lost to last year in the Big East by 23 points and we talked about that. We wanted to let the freshmen know that we went up there and lost to them by 23 points. It is kind of like we played the harder teams first last year and now we are starting to play the harder teams. I think it is giving us confidence to the older ones and the younger ones about the teams at the bottom of the league - just getting confidence and stepping up for the bigger ones (games)."
Freshman Guard Becky Burke
"I wasn't hear last year but part of the schedule we struggled with a little bit last year and we know the Big East schedule is tough. These are definitely the games they struggled with last year, so we wanted to make sure that we finish strong - like we started.
(On her 3-pointers providing a spark)
"They were pressing us and coach just told me to stay down there and I'll be open so that's what I did. I was wide open and I knew I had to knock them down. It was a pretty good boost for us I think."
Senior Forward Angel McCoughtry
(On the team having six player's in double-figure scoring)
"Oh wow! That just shows that everyone is getting better. And you know a lot of people are getting in the gym working hard and everyone is buying into what coach has been telling us. I'm just so proud of them, no I really am."
(On knowing if she had twenty rebounds)
"No, I didn't. Who knows, just like who knows how I got 43 points. You just got to go out there and play and whatever happens, happens. But I'm just proud of everybody. That's how we get better. You see the stats and everybody's contributing. I'm just proud of the team; the sky's the limit for us."
(On Deseree' Byrd's improvement at the point guard position)
"She's just going to be great. She has never played that position before, she has really been buying into what coach has been saying. She puts a lot on her shoulders, I'm just proud of her. She will be a great player and she's only a sophomore."
