Louisville vs. Quinnipiac
November 11, 2013 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 11, 2013
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On free throw shooting) "That's two games in a row where we were 10 of 14 from the line. We come out and go 11 of 13 tonight. It's lack of focus. We're in fine shape, fatigue is not a problem. You know you get up 18, you get up 19 and you think the ball game is over, you go to the free-throw line and you're not as focused as you need to be. And all of a sudden we shoot 13 of 26. I mean Tia Gibbs I think went 1 of 3. She can't do that. She is a much better basketball player, much better free-throw shooter. I was pleased with Bria. She went 3 for 4 from the line, which was a big improvement. So I am excited about that."
(On defensive effort) "There's no D in our defense. That's for sure. I mean I am not going to yell and scream at them to get down in the stance. It's all pride right now. If they don't want to guard, it's up to them. I mean it's my job to sit here and coach them and I am going to coach them to tell them what's going to happen and what we need to do. Then it comes down to where there is a player, you got to sit there and say, "Hey, I can do this. I can get down and get in a stance." We got driven by some players. I mean they are good basketball players. They are just not very athletic. So on Thursday night when LSU comes in, I mean they are very athletic. So if we are struggling guarding tonight, a great team, I am very impressed with their basketball team. Coach has done a great job with them. They are just not very athletic. If we can't guard that, I hate to see what's going to happen here on Thursday night."
(On comparison to Villanova) "I'd say that's a good comparison. They don't quite run as much motion, but they do score the basketball. And we had our chances. We had our chances to get up 28, 29. We could never do it, 16 or 17 the entire night. We just didn't have the mentality. We had some fast breaks to get in there to put it up 24 and then turn the ball over which leads to two points for them. We just can't do that."
(More on defense) "I think both first and second half, we are just not getting in our stance. We're not taking pride in guarding the basketball, and that's what we have to do. We're closing out late on shooters. We knew that No. 31 was a three-point shooter. We knew that No. 3 was a three-point shooter, and No. 35 was a three-point shooter and we just let her catch and shoot the three. You got to play hard. It's not an easy game. You got to put the effort into it. Right now it's more mental effort than physical effort."
(On Sara Hammond's performance and her having back-to-back double-doubles) "I was really pleased with how she rebounded with two hands. Tonight she rebounded with two hands instead of trying to rebound with one. She got seven offensive boards - which is great, I was really pleased with that - two assists, two turnovers. She played well. She did a really nice job tonight for us. We've just got to get better defensively. We've got to take pride in guarding."
(On if Sara Hammond's four fouls is why she sat at the end of the game) "No, it's one of those where I was trying to get some kids some more minutes. Trying to see what they could do with the opportunity. I was really pleased with how Sara played. I thought Asia did a pretty good job but then she got in foul trouble too. So, with the way the fouls are going to be called we're going to have to make sure that players are having the playing time and the opportunity to play and I think that's what happened tonight."
(On what to expect from LSU) "They're a top 15 basketball team. I'm expecting a basketball team to come in here that's trying to get to the finals of the WNIT. Same thing that we're trying to do. But our kids need to be prepared. They are very talented. They've got some great post players, some great guards, play extremely quick and if we're not willing to get down and contain the basketball they are going to score a bunch. They're going to defensively give us some problems because they guard well. I don't think we're going to be able to drop 100 (points) on them so we're going to have to figure it out in a hurry, that we have to guard somebody."
(On Jude Schimmel's performance) "She's been playing really well. I'm very pleased with her. I keep telling everybody about this basketball team, we are deep. We've got a lot of scorers. We just don't have too many defenders right now. I mean, Shoni goes 1 for 13 and 0 for 8 (from the 3-point line) and we win by 18. It's 21 until she hits that three at the buzzer on their last possession. I think that says a lot about where this ball club is at right now. There was a lot of weight on Shoni the past few years where she had to score. She had to score. Well now we have plenty of scoring. It's the same thing as I told them the other night. I'm not even sure what we shot from the free throw line Saturday night but it was very poor and we still scored 101 points. Tonight we scored 100 and Shoni goes 1 for 13 and we shoot 24 for 39 from the free throw line. I mean if she just has her average game and we shoot 70 percent (free throws) like I've told our kids we have to, we score 110. I know we can score. Scoring has never been a concern of mine."
(On the defensive effort) "I am more disappointed in our mental approach right now, because honestly it is like a football team that comes out here and puts points on the board like an old fashioned shootout. It is when you don't have a good defense and you put all your eggs in the offense. Right now that is what we are doing. We don't care if the other team scores or misses. We just want the ball back. We are going to run down and say hey we can make a three and you can't. Well, it is not going to work that way when we play the LSU's of the world. You just don't outscore people. "
(On Shoni Schimmel maturing from last year) "She has grown up. Besides not being able to buy a bucket tonight, she gets 11 assist, four turnovers, and two of those turnovers came on one possession. She threw it got it stolen, stole it back, and then turned it over. So of the four turnovers, she had two in one possession. I was really pleased at how she continued to play and didn't let her shooting didn't affect the rest of it."
(On getting the team to focus better) "I told them that it is on them now. I have done everything I can by getting on them, run them, and all this stuff. Now it's about personal pride. I have challenged their pride so I am hoping that they will get something to eat and go home tonight and look at themselves in the mirror and ask if they are giving all they have, and if that is the best I have got? If that doesn't work, unfortunately, I think it will take a loss. I think it is going to take for us to get beat, for them to realize that they actually have to guard somebody. That is what I am afraid of."
Junior Guard Jude Schimmel
(On her energy in the second half) "I think I brought something that we needed, I feel like that's kind of my role , you know when things aren't going well I feel like I need to do something to change that . Coach and I talked about that, I'm just trying to be the one that keeps everyone level and keep my teammates under control, you know that was something we needed when I started doing a little bit."
(on outscoring Shoni) "You can say that, No. It's just I'm playing really well right now. I'm not saying I'm the new Schimmel to watch, I'm just apart of the team. Shoni's coming back, she'll be at the next game."
(on free throw shooting in the second half) " I think its just a mental effort, we sit in practice and we make free throws, I think its just the mental side."
Junior Forward Sara Hammond
(on shooting free throws yesterday at practice) "We were in there for four hours doing film and then practice. Obviously, but we did a good amount of time practicing free throws, in between drills, at the end of practice, and the beginning of practice. You know anytime you can, even stay after practice and shoot free throws because they are free baskets that's why they call them free throws. You know right now I just think it may be a lack of focus and people are thinking about other things when they step up to the line. So we just got to concentrate better and get repetitions, get in the gym and just keep doing the same thing over and over again, and hopefully they start falling."
(on her first half performance) "Coach is just challenging me right now, he wants me to keep just keep running up and down the floor on offense and defense. He just wants me to work to get in good position to get easy buckets and put points on the board. But I just try to play to the tempo he wanted and I am just glad we came out and got the win tonight."
(on how she felt about her performance) "I felt good. I just challenged myself to start out good because I know sometimes I can start out a little slow. And just being an upperclassman this year doesn't give me an excuse for not coming out and playing hard. Being a big rebounder for my team I have to play well because the coaches challenge me to do that ever game so that's what I come out and try to do."
(on scoring 100 points) "We have the depth, I mean we have scorers on our team. You see Antonita shooting threes, and Jude shooting threes and contributing. But it really starts with our defense, like you said were happy to get a win. Were not satisfied, if we want to get back to the Final Four it's not acceptable to let their guards beat us, and let their post get rebounds. So we're not satisfied with the win, we're happy but we can score any time against any team. It's just a matter of weather were going to take pride in our defense and get down and guard people and make sure they don't get rebounds off of free throws."
Senior Guard Antonita Slaughter
(On being left open) "After last game I got in trouble from my teammates for not shooting. I just came out ready to shoot the ball when I was open."
