Louisville vs. Loyola Chicago
November 09, 2013 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 9, 2013
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Loyola Chicago Head Coach Sheryl Swoopes
(Opening statement) "First of all I just want to start off by saying how, believe it or not, excited we are about having opportunity play in the WNIT. We knew coming in it was going to be a tough game. We knew the things that we're going to try to at least eliminate and contain. They are deep team, and they are a very good team. I think we all knew that coming in that it was going to be tough for us. I'm really proud of the way our girls continued to fight through the entire game. They never gave up and that's all we ever ask for from the very beginning of tip off.
(On Louisville's depth and substitution patterns) "You know they are tough. Not even to talk about our injuries or anything that we're dealing with on our side, but to be able to have the type of depth that they have and how you can sub five players at a time and you don't really have any let downs. I think that one thing for us is that we really tried to come in and try not to focus so much on what they were going to be doing, but things we were trying to focus on to get better. Their inside game alone, combined with the injuries we have and that we are a very small team, I knew we were going to get crushed on the boards. I would be very surprised if they didn't go all the way. I won't say they're going to win it all because then people are going to say that I said it. They are pretty good."
(On Katie Faught and her shooting) "Katie, that's what she does for us. Katie can flat out shoot the ball. Her confidence is there and when we're finding her, I think our guards especially Ayrealle (Beavers), do a really nice job of finding her. When her confidence is up, she is one of the best shooters I've seen. This was a good game for her and hopefully it will help her get her confidence up. We will get an opportunity to go home and play a couple more games. I'm interested to see how we turn around after not doing so well tonight."
(On Shoni Schimmel) "Shoni (Schimmel) did everything that we expected her to do tonight. One thing that is tough about this team is you really can't key in on just one player. I remember watching Louisville play last year against Baylor and then against Cal and to me Shoni last year was like the glue to this team, and as she went the team would go. I'm not saying she's not that this year, but I think they just have so many weapons. I think that if you try to focus or key in on once certain player, we need to try to contain Shoni , then you would have Bria (Smith) who I think has transformed into a really good guard in this league. I don't know, Shoni is a great player. If you try to take the three away from her then she will put in on the floor. She does a nice job of getting to the basket and finding her teammates. She is definitely a leader for this team."
(on her first timeout called) "Well, we worked a lot on breaking their 1-2-2 press. The first thing I said to them after calling the time out was just relax. This was probably the biggest scene some of them if not all of my players have been on. In front of 7,500 people. It's a lot more than a couple of hundred. This was a big environment, a big atmosphere. The first thing I said to them was to relax. We knew this was coming, they didn't throw anything at us that we didn't expect. Just relax, play basketball, you got to go meet the passes because they're very athletic. I just felt that after the second turnover I needed to call the timeout just to relax them a little bit so we could regroup. I thought for the most part we did a really nice job of handling their press tonight."
(on her team's injuries)
"Simone (Law) has not played, I want to say all season, but we just started. She had a knee scope and she has been released. Not sure if she will be ready to play our next game. She is not able to have any physical contact until next week. Lindsey Booker had knee surgery she'll hopefully be back in the next three to four weeks. Two of my freshmen are battling stress fractures, they are probably out another two to three weeks. Courtney Lindfors, our big girl, she actually had hip surgery, and she's out probably another three to four months. Of the five players that are out all those players are a key part of what were are trying to do this year and building this program and wanting to compete. There's no doubt that we miss those players, especially our big girl inside."
(Moving from the Horizon League to the Missouri Valley)
"We are picked to finish sixth. I'm actually really excited about that. I'd much rather be picked sixth than first. We are definitely the underdog, I don't think many people are expecting much out of us. My goal coming in this year was to try and change the culture of Loyola women's basketball. Just to go out and compete every single night, and play hard. And that's one thing I said to my players tonight, no matter what's going on it's going to be tough. There are going to be tough times that come along, but we got to stick together, play together, and never quit. I want us to be known this year as a team that gave everything we had for 40 minutes. Not saying we are going to win the Valley, but I guarantee you we are going to compete every single night, and I like our chances."
(On the difference from being a player to being a coach) "It's difficult. I think one of my biggest challenges was to be patient. It's not that I expect my players to be the type of player that I was, but sometimes I wonder why can't they see the type of things I saw as a player. Just making that transition from a player to coach, the transition I think is going to take time, but as you said as a player if I had been out there in the game today my pride would've kicked in at some point and you just have to find a way to get it done. As a player you can go out there and get the ball, you have more control as opposed to being a coach. On the sideline you can call time out, you can try to come up with some type of scheme or strategy to slow down or stop the other team, I'm not physically able to go out there and get the job done. I will say, especially the second half I was extremely proud of how our ladies continued to fight, they never quit, they never put their heads down, that's all we asked of them coming into this game."
Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
(Opening Statement) "It's a good win. I am not real pleased with how we played. Scoring I really don't think is going to be a problem for us, but our execution on the defensive end of the floor has to get better. I thought we did a nice job when we tried to press and got things going a little faster, which is how we want to try to play, but there is no sense to continue to press at halftime. So I challenged our kids, you have got to be a good half court defensive team and I really don't think we did a very good job of that. The Hambrick kid for Loyola was just a competitor. I was really impressed with how she attacked the glass. Seven offensive rebounds says a lot about her effort and her work ethic. I was really impressed with that and their guards. I mean Johnson is as quick as any guard we are going to face all year. I was just really impressed with their team overall, especially with having three of four out with injuries. So they will come back and make them a much different team."
(On the rebounding) "The problem is this, we had 29 offensive boards and how many of them were on misses. You can't just get an offensive board, miss it again, miss it a third time and think you are doing something good. You have got to finish your put backs, which is what we challenged our post players with. You know, they blocked 11 shots, which I can't remember a game we played where we have had 11 shots blocked and not one player was over 6'0 tall. We will teach from film, and we will make some improvements, because we have to get better, and the great thing about it is, it's just game one. We have got a lot of games to play. We just can't be pleased with a win, we have got to make sure we continue to get better every night."
(On Sara being very effective) "She was good, she competed and you know, I challenged her too. They have got more inside of them and that's what I am trying to get them all to understand. You can't play the scoreboard, you have got to play the clock. You have got to go out there for 40 minutes and bust it. You look at us overall, even Bria she was 5 of 9 and I think she only took one jump shot. So she missed three lay-ups. That's not good. She goes 6 of 12 from the free throw line and air-balled two of them. So if she is not willing to get in the gym for hours on her own and work on free throw shooting, then she is a liability to have on the floor, because if I was playing against her, I'd foul her. So that's something I am challenging our players with, and I'm not afraid to do it in front of everybody, and our kids know that. They're goals are to win a national championship and get to the Final Four, but in order to do that you can't just sit there and rely on what you have done in the past. You have got to continue to get better, and that's one thing we are going to continue to work on, and I am going to challenge them."
(On the free throw shooting) "We were 18 of 34 and we were 10-14 at one point. That's awful, I mean it's terrible. So you're 10 of 14 and you go 8 out of your next 20 from the free throw line and they expect to be called party planners. They need to be planning on when they are going to get in the gym and shoot free throws."
(On who played good defense) "I thought Tia and Jude gave us a big lift. When they went in together, they did a great job defensively. I was really pleased with how they played. We are a team that can give a lot of kids a lot of minutes. We will continue to do this, but it is going to come down to situations where it's going to be eight to 10 kids that are out there playing. Players are going to be able to have these opportunities here to show that they deserve to be out there, and that's what I am trying to get them all to understand. If you don't take advantage of these opportunities to play, then in the big game, you won't be out there."
(On the play of Jude Schimmel) "If you go 3of 4 every night I'd call that spectacular from the 3-point line. She's not one that looks like she's making the flashy pass but at the end of the night when you look at her stat sheet she does a great job - 3 assists, no turnovers, 3 of 4 from three. Now my concern for her is she was 0 of 2 from the free throw line. We can't do that. She's going to get to the line because of how she can drive so she's got to be able to step up and knock down free throws. Asia Taylor and Bria Smith are two of our players who are probably going to get to the line more than anybody else this year and they both are struggling to shoot 50 percent."
(On Asia Taylor's performance) "We expected that. She has practiced extremely well. I expect her to continue to do that for us. What she's got to work on is her turnovers. She's got to cut her turnovers down and then she's got to be able to step up and make free throws. But her effort was great. It's nothing that I wouldn't expect from her because that's how she plays. All of them - I thought Tia Gibbs was great for the first time out there in two years and to get us 13 (points) and four (assists), goes 3 of 4 from the free throw line and 2 of 4 from the 3-point line, she played a solid game. Shawnta' Dyer, which it was just Shawnta', don't get rattled by it, it takes her four or five games before she stops playing `Annie Over' with herself. She just gets it on this side and throws it to the other side and then back on this side. She's done it for the past two years. She'll calm down and then she'll start to finish, it's what Shawnta' does. I joked with her today at shoot around. She air-balled a shot and I said `yep, it's game day.' And she just kind of laughed. She'll be fine and I expect really good things from her."
(On the next game versus Quinnipiac) "We are going to have our hands full on Monday night. They are a team that likes to send all five back in transition. They aren't going to go to the offensive boards a lot so we're not going to get a chance to score a bunch in transition. They run a very productive motion offense where they've got players out on the perimeter. Some of our players, it's going to be a challenge for them. If they can't figure it out in practice tomorrow they aren't going to see a bunch of playing time. It's nothing against them, there's just some games if you don't bring your mind to defend then you're not going to be able to play. There'll be some challenges that I put forth tomorrow and we'll see who steps up and meets that challenge."
(On the play of Emmonnie Henderson) "Emmonnie, you know, she's going to have to work on not fouling, which I told her I'm shocked she actually didn't foul out because I thought she'd foul out our first five games. She's one I've got to just get her to focus. She plays hard. She gets 12 boards and is in there rebounding. But if I can get her to play with focus for those 14 minutes I think the kid can get about 15 boards because there's sometimes she doesn't even go after the ball because I'm not sure she's really into it. And that's what I'm going to challenge her with. Offensively, she's a much better offensive player than what you saw tonight. She cannot go 1of 4 from the free throw line because she's going to get fouled also. So we have some work to do with our post players but I like our post players. I think we've got a great group of post players, it's just a process. It's going to take some time."
