Louisville vs. DePaul
February 25, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2012
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery 
Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On Becky Burke) "It was a great way to finish her career at home. We're really excited for her. She hit some big time shots for us. Our team did a really good job of getting her some open looks. I thought Shoni did a really good job with the ball getting her shots where she can just get her feet set and shoot. They were great passes right in her shooting pocket and she didn't have to worry about trying to adjust it or anything like that. We are really, really excited for her."
(On Becky Burke's big shot late in the second half) "It was a huge three. Becky hit the three and then Bria (Smith) did a great job of getting the rebound and then she gets fouled and makes both free throws. It was a five point play for them and I think they cut it to four. Then we get a five point play and its back up to nine. It was a huge swing for us right there."
(On getting the win after losing to DePaul earlier this year) "It was a huge win. I'm just excited because we did again what we've been doing the past two weeks and that's defending and rebounding. If you do those two things you've got a chance to win games. I told my staff before the game started that we've got to find a way to score 70. If you can't score 70 points you're not going to win a lot of basketball games. This is the second time in a month and a half that we've scored 70 points. We've won some games but it's been 68-63. If you want to be a really good basketball team you've got to find a way to put 70 on the board every night. It's a battle. With about six minutes left I told the official it's a race to 70. Whoever scores 70 first is going to win. We had to get 12 more and they had to get 23 more and we figured out a way to get their first."
(On Asia Taylor) "I thought she played really well in the second half. She just was not there starting off the game. I don't know how many layups we've missed as a team. I can't get them a closer shot. At the end of the game when we threw that lob pass, if you put that in the rim that's a dagger. I mean they would've just been deflated. You don't see the lob thrown very often in the women's basketball. Shoni threw a great pass and Asia made a great catch, you just have to go up and finish it. I don't know, I've never seen anything like it. We just seem to miss them. She missed some early and then she got down and she didn't defend very well and I had to take her out. But the way she came out in the second half is the way she needs to play a whole game. For us to be successful and win I've got to get 10 points from Asia. The thing about it is that six of them will be from a foot away. She just needs to concentrate and finish it. Hopefully we can get those problems taken care of. If we can do that you've got 10 from Asia. Shawnta' (Dyer) is just a workhorse down there. She's giving me everything she has. Sara Hammond is continuing to get better. I've just got to get her to get tougher. We ran a play for her in the first half and she came off of it, sealed the girl, and all she had to do was shoot a little right handed layup. She reverse pivots for some reason and gets called for a travel. They just need to do the work before they catch the ball. Watch the really great post players, they've got everything sealed so that when they catch it it's a layup. Shawnta' is probably the best we have at that. She likes to shoot easy layups."
(On being a better team when Dyer and Taylor contribute) "We're much better. I thought Shoni did a pretty good job of getting the ball out of her hands today. There was one possession where she had to keep dribbling because nobody was moving. I keep telling them they can't just stop and stare at her. She wants to pass the ball. If they'll cut and move, she'll get them the ball. The pass she threw to Shawnta' on the break where she finished it and got fouled was as good as I've seen. There are a lot of small things we're trying to teach. Like at the end we throw the ball into Asia Taylor and she holds the ball to get fouled. I want her to throw it back to Shoni so we run clock. In high school that's what you have to do because you're probably the only one that can make a free throw on your high school team. Here I'm like let's make four or five passes. Let's run 10 seconds off the clock."
(On defense and rebounding) "We have changed the way we're trying to defend after that two game road swing. Before we played UConn I thought we don't really deny passes great. We're not out in the passing lanes causing chaos. We're just in the gaps. We forced them into 23 turnovers. I thought we got seven or eight of them because they just dribbled too deep and dribbled right to us."
(On how pleased he is with this team) "I'm really pleased. I'm excited about how we've come together as a group. These 10 that are playing right now are a joy to coach. I haven't had a problem with these 10. They come to practice every day. They like each other. Our chemistry is great and they work. When you have that you can do great things on the basketball court. We have talent. Our expectations before the year started trying to get to Denver. When you looked at the landscape of college basketball I thought we had a great shot at that. Our goal is to still get there. We're going to have to really be playing our best basketball. We have to rebound and defend."
Senior Guard Becky Burke
(On her senior day) "I've had so much fun this year, that was a lot of fun. My teammates made it really special for me tonight, made me feel special all day. You know I just had stay patient, all I cared about was this win and it was kind of cool that I got to come out at the end and make some big shots. The most important thing was this win tonight and I stayed patient throughout the game, our teammates were getting involved. Shoni (Schimmel) kept telling me she was going to find me and I knew she would at some point, so it was a good game."
(On team's response to DePaul run following technical foul) "Well we didn't really know what happened; I guess coach got a T. I pulled everybody together, we had to stay focused, and the crowd helped a lot at that point getting us into it. With something like that, when you see the other team on your court getting hyped up and thinking they're about to make a run you have to put a stop to that immediately and I think that's what we did."
(Reflecting on her career) "Well yeah because I was crying all day today, basically the whole game I was crying. I don't know, all these emotions kind of come over you and I don't think I looked over my entire career during any moment this afternoon but last week I had a moment and I thought about it and I'm just so blessed to have had this opportunity and be a part of Louisville basketball. It's something that I wish everybody could experience."
(On second half performance) "I think any shooter can tell you that after you hit a couple, you can tell the next one is going in. You can feel it." (On BIG EAST Tournament seeding) "We obviously don't want to go out on the first day. As long as we have that one or two day bye that's what we're trying for. As far as who we play, we've seen everybody so we're going to put a good game plan together."
Sophomore Guard Shoni Schimmel
(On adjustment from first DePaul loss) "We had a month to prepare for this game and we just kept preparing as a team... Learning from our mistakes and staying together as a team, we all pulled it out together; it was a great win for our team." (On team's response to DePaul run following technical foul) "It was a huge shot she (Becky Burke) hit to just get us going again. To stop their run and start our run so it was really great for us but also great for her."
(On Becky Burke's career) "It's always sad to see a senior go but this year has been unbelievable...It's been awesome to play with Becky for the second year in a row, you cannot describe it."
(On BIG EAST Tournament seeding) "I don't think it really matters for us just because we've played the better teams better; especially in the last month. We guarded UConn we guarded Notre Dame so our chances are pretty high to go up against them again and actually get the win against them."
Freshman Forward Shawnta' Dyer
(On defending Jasmine Penny and Katherine Harry) "We did a lot of things differently. First of all, we separate the guards from the post that we have to defend. In order to defend, we have to rebound, we have to do everything right. She (Katherine Harry) had 20 rebounds the last game against us and that was not going to happen again."
(On post player improvement) "As you all know we had a player who decided not to be on this team anymore. So we realize we have to step up our game, our mentality, our drive, our passion, everything. When you're down a person you have to do things that you weren't doing the beginning of the season. So I think Asia (Taylor) and I are a good duo at practice and we work hard together."
