Louisville vs. Wagner College
December 21, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2012
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery
Sophomore guard Jude Schimmel
(On her performance in tonight's game) "The biggest thing was that coach said to come out with energy in this game and I guess that was my main focus for this game. We had a slow start in the first five minutes and when I got in there my biggest thing was to play with energy."
(On how she felt going into the game) "I was just trying to bring energy, that was the biggest thing for me to give the team what they needed."
(On whether she's concerned about being rusty because of the break) "No, I think we all care enough about the game and were trying to get ready for the Big East coming up. I think we will be mature enough to work on our game over break."
Sophomore forward Sara Hammond
(On how she feels the team is playing) "I feel like we're doing pretty good especially with the injuries we've had which has really challenged the people that are available to step up their game. Obviously with Christmas break its going to be a big break for us to get some rest, but at the same time coach said we can't decrease our ability and being in shape. We still have to get in the gym. Right now with the players we have available we're doing pretty good. With the competition were getting ready to play in the Big East is a whole different story. I guess we'll see when we face DePaul. I like the way we are playing right now and we just have to keep progressing as the season goes."
(On what they will do during the break) "Just work on your individual game for about 5 or 6 days. Coach told us to be with your family and take a break but at the same time get in the gym get some shots up and stay in shape. That's what we have to do as an individual because we won't be together as a team. When we come back we just have to push each other even more and continue to compete with each other in practice."
(On what coach is emphasizing going into Big East play) "Just taking care of the ball and the runs we had. Before the game he put up on the board from our previous game against Washington State, just times at the beginning of the game where we turned it over three times, then we'd go about five minutes where we would take care of the ball and score then we would have another three minutes where we were carless and throwing it all over the place. He wants us when we get into Big East play, when we play teams like Rutgers, Connecticut there going to score off of those turnovers and teams right now aren't. He's just telling us to take care of the ball and execute our offense and rebound because the competition is about to be five levels higher."
(On Sheronne Vails hitting a 3-pointer) "Coach was yelling at her go to the top of the key and she didn't hear it so I was just yelling. That's great for Sheronne because we need her especially with Shawnta' down and Monique's knee still hurting, because her length and size which will help us tremendously in the Big East. That three got her confidence going into the break that's what we need. I'm excited for her, most people don't know that she can shoot outside but she has a really good shot."
Freshman guard Megan Deines
(On starting as a Freshman) "I really didn't but coach has pushed me and he's been on me all year. I'm just trying to improve my game and bring what I have."
(On what coach said to her about starting) "He didn't really mention it to me; he just put me in there and let me play. He let me play through it."
Louisville Head Coach Walz
(On the team's play and concerns about too much rest in between games) "I'm not concerned about [playing one game in the next 15 days]. They need some rest. They need a break. I wasn't sure how it was going to go down. I felt that we had the opportunity to win, but I wasn't expecting this score. I was pleased with how everybody contributed. I thought we took care of the basketball well. Our goal before the game started was to have under 10 turnovers. You look at nine of them and one, Meagan Deines, gets a rebound and steps her foot out of bounds, so that counts as a rebound and a turnover. Then, Jude [Schimmel], who loses the ball, she got it for a second, got knocked away, but then she stole it again - so it's a turnover and a steal. It's one of those [things] where you take those two away and we're at seven now. So I thought we did a really good job taking care of the basketball. I thought we did a really good job in the second half, especially with sharing the ball."
(On the team's injuries) "[Monique Reid] - there was no sense for her playing tonight. We're trying to give her as much rest as we can to give her to continue to rehab the knee. Bria [Smith] just got cut above the eye. She had a few stitches on that. Asia Taylor has actually been participating some in some non-contact drills in practice. Tia Gibbs is still out and I'm not real optimistic, like I said, that Tia will get an opportunity to come back and play, but she's still a very big part of this basketball program. Shawnta' Dyer has a torn ACL. We're hoping that it's only a sprained MCL. She'll go in for surgery after the first of the year."
(How the loss of Shawnta' Dyer affects the starting lineup) "Sara Hammond is going to have to play some more minutes. Sherrone Vails, Courtney Walton - Antonita Slaughter is going to have to play some more forward for us. Really, what it does is my rotation gets smaller because we just don't have the number of players, and then you're going to be playing hard. It's a good thing and a bad thing as long as we don't get anybody else hurt. I like our group that we're putting out on the floor, but at the same time, you can't have two or three players have bad nights because it's not like I can sub you out because you're not there playing with energy, to guard somebody and [getting] excited to be playing. So that's my challenge I've given them. You got to come and play every day now because we, at least, need your energy on the floor."
(On the play of Jude Schimmel) "Jude does a very nice job for us. I've been challenging Jude over and over too. I just need her to bring that energy, her demeanor. If we get one or two things wrong then Jude kind of gets down on herself. I've told her I'm not going to take you out for missing shots. I've told her that over and over. But, I'm going to take you out when you hang your head and you lose your excitement. When she's out there playing aggressive and scrapping and flying around, she makes a lot of things happen for us. She had eight steals. She's got four assists and one turnover. In the second half she had four assists and no turnovers. So, I'm really excited about that. The other thing Jude does is she's got a nice little pull up jump shot, which we don't have a lot (of players) that have that. She can do that and she can create some things and she goes up really strong with her left hand. I need her to continue to play that way because she's going to have to play a lot of minutes for us."
(On any concern about giving the team five days off) "It's what goes on in women's basketball. You give them the chance to go home and get rejuvenated. We normally try and give them five or six days. Now like I continue to tell them, they do have to do workouts when they are at home - they've got to do some running, they've got to do some shooting. If they don't then the following year we won't give them that time off. But they have to do things on their own."
(On what needs to be accomplished before Big East Conference games start) "We have to get better at the defensive end of the floor. That's for sure. I wasn't pleased with the way we rebounded the ball. I know we ended up out-rebounding them 42-24, but at one stretch I think it was 26-22. We can't give a team 12 offensive boards. It's unacceptable. Those two areas are the two that we really have to focus on once we get back here. We have got to rebound the basketball and we have got to defend - keep people in front of us. And our posts have to know what we are doing. If we are fronting the post you've got to front the post. If we are playing behind then you play behind. We got mixed up on that a few times today."