Post Game Quotes
March 28, 2009 | Women's Basketball
March 28, 2009
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
Head Coach Jeff Walz
Opening Statement:
"It's hard to put things into words right now. I'm so excited and so happy for our kids. I've told them since day one when I took the job that I'm not the easiest to play for because I demand a lot of them, not just on the floor, but off the floor. We're not just going to be great basketball players, but we're going to be great people and great students. It's been a long road for some of them, but to see what these young ladies did tonight, the way they've played the entire season, I couldn't be prouder of a group of kids."
"For the game, I think the big stat was the fact that we were able to get 17 offensive boards. We won the battle of the boards 50-36. We got out of sync, there's no question. From about the 14-minute mark of the second half until the nine-minute mark was just chaos. I couldn't be prouder of the fact that when they cut the lead to 38-37 with 8:54 and we come down the floor and get a big stop they Candyce (Bingham) hits a three to put us up four. Then we give up two points the last nine minutes of the game. I was just so excited for the way we defended and just excited for these kids."
On the defensive effort in the last nine minutes:
"We had to come down the floor and make stops. That's where it was 38-37 and we hit a three. Then we had six stops in a row. Our goal all season has been three stops in a row. For us to come up with six stops in a row, that gave us a chance to come down and convert at the offensive end. It's a lot harder to shoot when it's a one-point game than when it's a three. It all started to evolve from there. We hit a three and then we come down the floor after a stop, Des (Byrd) makes a nice jump shot in the paint. Now we're up six. I think our confidence started to grow at the offensive end. The pass that Angel (McCoughtry) makes out to Des when she's trapped in the corner, it really says a lot about her game and how much further she's come. Two months ago she would have tried to shoot that through the trap, but tonight she found Des over there and Des steps up and knocks down a big three for us."
Candyce Bingham, Senior / Forward
On hitting two big three-pointers down the stretch:
"I don't really shot them, but it's not like I don't work on them in practice. I just don't shoot them in games. Instead of driving into them and getting an offensive foul again, Angel (McCoughtry) saw me on the wing and I just took it with confidence. These are the moments you live for."
On advancing to the Elite 8:
"We're very excited, this being the first time in our history, but we're not satisfied. We're trying to get to the Final Four."
Angel McCoughtry, Senior / Forward
On the Louisville defense:
"We have pretty good defense. That's how we've been getting by all year. We know we're not the most talented team but if we outwork people and d them up, we can win. That's been our goal - to outwork everybody we play."
On the period in the second half when her shots weren't falling:
"My shot was off, but when that happens I know other people can step up and I can do other things like play defense and rebound. Candyce hit two big threes tonight, which helped us and lifted us up. We have other players who can step up and score for us. I don't always have to do it."
Keshia Hines, So./ C/F
On today's game and thoughts on advancing to the programs first-ever Elite 8
"We followed the game plan, we rebounded and hustled. We are excited and ready to go. We cannot wait and we are going to follow the game plan and hopefully come out on top."
Preference on your opponent for Monday night's game
"Well both of our coaches have previously coached at both schools. Our assistant coach was at Vanderbilt and our head coach was at Maryland. We are just going to follow our game plan, we are going to play hard, bring our 'A' game, rebound and defend, and hopefully be successful."
On the teams rebounding efforts today
"During practice we did do a lot of rebounding because we knew that was going to be the key to the game today. We hustled hard and got the boards we needed."
Becky Burke, Fr./ G
On the programs first-ever trip to the Elite 8
"It means a lot to us because we have done a lot this season as far as records for the program and we want to represent our school and show how hard we have worked all year. We are really excited to have the opportunity to play for a trip to the Final Four."
Talk about rebounding today and your game plan against Baylor
"We knew that they had big post players who rebounded really well and their guards crashed hard, so that was what we really focused hard on in shoot around and practice. We needed to really work on getting the rebounds and only sending one player back, and I think we did a really good job on that."
On a preference for Monday night's game
"No preference, whoever wins we will be ready and prepared for, either way. We are just really excited to see who wins this game and then get ready for Monday night's game."
