Louisville vs. Ohio
November 21, 2013 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2013
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 
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Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
(on the defense tonight) "I think we did a very nice job of making sure we contested shots, holding them 2 for 25 from the three-point line. Kiyanna Black is a very talented shooter, I think she was shooting 50 percent coming into the game, so to hold her to 0 for 7 was great. I thought we did a really nice job of guarding dribble penetration. That was something we really stressed and said was going to be a challenge for us because they do a very good job of driving the basketball."
(on Shawnta' Dyer getting better) "Yes she is, it's just going to take some time, and I've tried explaining that to her, and Emmonnie. I thought Emmonnie had some good minutes too. They have to get in the gym and be willing to do extra conditioning to get in basketball shape. That's why Cortnee Walton is as effective as she is right now. I mean she plays 18 minutes and gets 10 boards, goes 3 for 3 from the field because she is in great shape. Cortnee is in excellent physical shape and it's no secret. You look at her out there and she looks great."
(On 22 assists on 34 field goals) "We came out in the second half and we obviously shot the three much better, and we were getting some nice kick outs for shots. Five assists right there off those five threes, because they all came off dribble penetration. I'm just not pleased with the 19 turnovers. We just go brain dead and we got to continue to get better at it. We have to challenge ourselves to understand how to take care of the ball. Our goal is 15 or less, so we'll run for those four. It's just not acceptable. We're going to continue to challenge ourselves and our goal was to hold them to under 10 second chance points, and we hold them to seven. I was pleased with that and our free throw shooting. We've got to continue to get better at it. Megan Deines goes 1 for 4 tonight, but I think on Sunday at Oklahoma I think she goes 3 for 4. They have to become more consistent. Shawnta' Dyer, we definitely have to get her at the free throw line. She has to shoot it over and over. Her form, we have to work on that, she's just putting the ball too far behind her head. We'll get that fixed. There are seven of your misses right there from two players."
(On Tia sitting out) "I played her four games in eight days, and she played 30 plus minutes at Oklahoma. She was just a little sore, so I said Tia there's no sense in me playing you tonight, we're going to get you an extra day of rest. She could have played if she needed to, but there was no need to play her. That's probably how we're going to do things throughout the entire year. If she has to play she will and there are some games she won't play at all."
(On if he was worried about a letdown after Sunday's win at Oklahoma) "No, because our players understand what's at stake here. They understand that our goal is to put ourselves in a position come March, when the NCAA tournament comes around, that we're in a good spot for seeding. Are we playing every single game like it's the last? No. Our goal is to get better every game. But with that we know that if we come out and compete and improve we're going to have a lot of success. We're a pretty deep basketball team and I think that's something that is going to benefit us later in the year. When you start playing against some teams and fouls start getting called and it's a close game, we can keep rolling players in and out."
(On being the winningest coach in Louisville Women's Basketball history) "I've just got to say thanks to all of the players that have bought into what we're trying to do here and believed in me and believed in their teammates and themselves. You know, it's fun and it's great. It's the longest time I've ever been the same place as a coach. This is a profession that you get out before they get you out. I plan on staying here until I retire or get fired. It's going to be one or the other."
(On what makes him successful) "I think what's helped me is, you go back to my days at Northern Kentucky - and I tell all of my players this - I barely played but what I did was I watch the game. I became a student of the game when I was sitting on the bench. I could sit there and watch and think `oh boy, here it comes.' We used to come down here and play Bellarmine and they would run that backdoor lob all of the time and I'd be like `oh, here it goes.' So I learned to watch the game and learn to actually be a student of it as I was sitting on the bench instead of pouting that I wasn't playing. I wanted to learn it. I think from those days I was very fortunate to have that mentality of instead of being bitter that I wasn't playing, that I would get something out of that. And then I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to go down to Western Kentucky and start my career with Paul Sanderford. Coach Sanderford is a dear friend to me and he's a mentor and as good of a game coach as I've ever seen. He has a feel for the game and it's not necessarily a stat thing. It's, this kid, I've got a feeling she'll play well and he'll go with them. And I learned a lot from him. So, I think I've been fortunate to be around some very good coaches. One thing is I don't think I'm stubborn. I'm willing to do whatever we have to do to be successful. Everybody asks me what my system is. I don't have a system. Our system is to win. If we have to shoot 35 threes we'll shoot 35 threes. If we need to throw the ball in the block we'll throw it in the block. I think myself and my staff are willing to change or do whatever we have to do to win."
(On the game Sunday against Florida State) "Sunday's going to be huge. It's a big, big ballgame for us. It's an ACC team coming from a BCS league. It's another game for us to have the opportunity to see where we are. Florida State's very talented. They've got at least one or two kids that will be a draft pick. So we're going to have to make sure we enjoy tonight's win and then tomorrow get back to work and start preparing for Florida State."
(On what it means unveiling the Final Four banner on Sunday) "That is going to be awesome. I am hoping we get a great crowd out here. Monique and Shelby are going to come back. I am excited for that because they both were big parts of this team and program. It is something to be proud of and I constantly tell my players that. Did we want to win the whole thing? Of course we did. When we take a step back and look at what we accomplished, it is something to be proud of."
(On what is so special about coaching at Louisville) "The crowd, the players, the support. It is as good as there is anywhere. We play in a great facility and work at a great university that provides our student-athletes with an education. We have everything you could want here. We are a program in my seventh year here and we didn't get past the second round of the NCAA tournament til six years ago. Now our expectations are to get to the Final Four every year. I think that was warp speed, what everyone expects but we are expecting the same thing. You want expectations, if you don't have expectations you are going to get fired. That means you are bad."
Junior F Shawnta' Dyer
(On getting better over time) "Yea the more I get comfortable with my body the more confident I get with my game."
(On her knee) "It's pretty good, I'm not 100 percent yet. I would like to work on cardio a little more and get my knee built up more."
(On how playing four games in eight days affected her knee) "Not really, coach is pretty smart asking me how I feel. He's pretty smart about when to play me and when to let me sit."
Senior G Shoni Schimmel
(on the defensive effort) "I mean coach Walz has been talking to us about getting back on defense. I thought we did a pretty good job tonight, but at the same time there is still room for improvement. So I think with Florida State coming up we still have somethings to work on, and its definitely defense."
(On worries of a let down tonight after the Oklahoma win) "I think coach Walz does a good job on getting us ready for games. He gets us motivated to go out there and show who we are."
(on free throw shooting) "Yea, it's definitely concentration for us to focus on more. Free throws should be more natural for us. It's another thing we have to work on. But as the season goes on, we're going to continue to get better at it. It's our weakness and it's a good thing to know [we're] not good at it right now so we have something to work on."
(On unveiling the Final Four banner this weekend) "It's going to be exciting. Of course we're going to want to fix it- we've got to get that `Runners Up' to `Champions' this year, so that's what we're striving for everyday...striving to get better, but it's a great thing for us. We're excited."
Junior G Bria Smith
(on her mid-range jumper) "Games like this you just want to work on things that you normally don't do and things that you're not comfortable with. That is why I work on my pull up jumper more this game then I usually do in other games."
(on the team's depth) "I just feel like there is no letdown on our team. I think that everybody can pretty much pick up where the other left off. Like subbing Jude in- she's the sixth person off the bench right now and there's no letdown at all. So it's just a great feeling to have everybody able to play and know what we're doing. I think that comes with the maturity on our team."
(On Coach Walz's accomplishments) "It is surprising. I actually didn't even know that it [was] today. He didn't tell us. So I think he's very deserving of it."
(Does sit surprise you that he didn't even bring it up) "Well, that's not him. He doesn't gloat or brag about anything. Right now, he's just concentrated on getting us better for the games going forward. It's a great accomplishment but hedidn't tell us about it."
(on how the team has played overall this season) "I feel like it's just more challenges for us because playing higher-level teams, it just give us an extra challenge to work on different things. We can tell the areas we're not as good at so we can work on them in practice. And it's only going to get us better for later on in the season. So, I can say for the whole team, that we're happy we have had these challenges early. We know we still have to work on things like our defense or free throw shooting or anything like that."
