Louisville vs. South Florida
February 27, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2010
Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On guarding Allyson Speed) "After a while I felt like I was talking to a brick wall. We were trying to make her put it on the floor. There were several times when we just ran into screens, and sometimes it looked like we did it on purpose. We were trailing her on the screen. We should've gotten over top of the screen, but we went below it and ran into the screen and she was able to get a wide open 3-pointer. You know we didn't defend very well when she had 13 shot attempts and 13 of them were 3-pointers. That just tells you we never made her put it on the ground. She was hot and we never got up in her. We never made her try to score."
(On the last possession) "We did a great job. Gwen was able to get her hand up and deflect the ball. We're trying to get the players to really understand the game. Becky Burke was guarding 15 on the play and you can't just stand there and stare at your man. You've got to know where the ball is. They threw the ball up top and Becky didn't turn around. She's not defending and looking over her shoulder. She didn't stay focused. Then they came up and set a simple on-ball screen. I talked about switching on-ball screens at the end. She came off it and she hit a difficult shot. It wasn't like it was just a simple jump shot.
(On the last time coaching in Freedom Hall) "It was a shame that we didn't close it out and not being able to do what we wanted to do. It's been a fantastic three years. I enjoy every game here and the fans have been outstanding. It's a great environment for our team and other teams to come here and play. It was not the way we wanted it to end. This whole season has been full of a lot of heartbreak and frustration. Look at our bench. There were no other players to put in. Nikki (Burton), Des (Byrd), and Chauntise (Wright) couldn't play. That is really where frustration sets in. I'm not saying that we would be a 20-win team with those three, but we're a lot better than 13-15."
Louisville Forward Monique Reid
(Thoughts on the game) "We fought hard. We just didn't guard the 3-point shooter. Coach told us they only had one shooter and she lit us up. We didn't help on screens and when we got a hand up she still knocked them down. We are supposed to stay with the girl but we didn't and she had one of her best nights."
(On what Coach Walz talked about during the final two timeouts) "He said don't let number 15 (Allyson Speed) shoot. We let 15 shoot and she hit a big shot. He was saying that the whole game after every three she hit but it just kept happening."
(On playing the last game at Freedom Hall) "It's pretty special. Even though we lost, it is pretty big to be the last women's team to play here. We just wanted to use this game to show the fans how we're going to be next year. We wanted to try to get everybody excited so they can come out next year and buy season tickets. I think we played hard and showed what we can do. When we get healthy we can be even better. I'm not blaming it on injuries because we still have to play defense."
(On defense being a problem all year) "Coach Walz preaches defense. He always tells us we go harder in practice than we do in the games. We need to focus on just playing hard and having a passion for defense. Some games we bring it and some games we don't, we're an inconsistent team and that is why our record is the way it is now. We allow too many offensive rebounds. We have trouble boxing out the bigger girls."
Louisville Forward Brandie Radde
(On Monique) "Personally I think she had better patience tonight with getting the ball and getting a lot of open looks. She's been trying to work on taking the open shots and she's been doing that. She still has a tendency to drive into the defense, but patience-wise I think she is doing a better job of that."
(On the outlook after this game) "Tonight was a big game. We were trying to get back to having a winning season. Going up to Rutgers we still have to play hard and try to finish strong. We have to practice tomorrow to get better for the game against Rutgers on Monday and for the BIG EAST Tournament. We've had a lot of these close loses but we still have a chance to win against Rutgers and make a run in the BIG EAST Tournament."
(On Senior Night at Freedom Hall) "I never thought I would have a senior night in Freedom Hall until I decided to come back and play again. After leaving last year I didn't think about having a senior night. It was nice to come out and play another game here."
