Louisville vs. Wright State
December 07, 2013 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2013
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On if it's his first game where the opponent didn't make a free throw) "It's very possible, especially a ball club that actually gets to the line about 30 times a game. We did a really nice job of denying the drive on the strong side. What they like to do is run that dribble drive and then they hope you help off and they pitch it and drive it again. We did a really, really nice job of not giving help off the ball side and that caused them some problems."
(On if he was expecting to beat Wright State by 59 points) "No I did not. I did not at all. This is a ball club that just beat N.C. State, James Madison and played Middle (Tennessee) to a seven-point game. I'm tickled with this. This is not what I expected at all."
(On what the team did well tonight) "We defended. I thought we did a really nice job of defending people without fouling. We're statistically one of the poorest fouling teams. Or you can look at it the other way; we're really good at that. It depends on how you like to look at things - the glass half full or half empty. But, we had been fouling about 23 times a game and tonight we fouled 11 times and Emmonnie had five of them. So, that's what I was impressed with. And then we rebounded the ball extremely well."
(On the team reaching 23 assists) "I thought we made the extra pass. And then we didn't over pass, which is something that happens when you're trying to tell kids to get the ball reversed and don't shoot it on the first shot. At times you can make too many passes. But I thought today we took the right shot at the right time. We had 17 turnovers, our goal was 18, so we met that. At the same time you can probably take five of those, just by bonehead mistakes, that we can eliminate. I'd love to get down to about 13 or 14 a game. With how we're trying to play and push the ball in transition, you're going to have some. On the flip side, this is a ball club that normally turns the ball over 11 times a game and we turned them over 22 times."
(On what changes need to be made without Antonita Slaughter for the rest of the season) "It's really going to come down to personnel - who's playing well and how things are going. Tia will most likely start for us. But at the same time I just have to make sure I don't run her into the ground here too quick with her frail body. I don't know how else to say it; the poor kid is beat up. So we have to make sure we continue to have her feeling good. Tonight we were fortunate to get off to a big start and I didn't really need to put her out there again. So I let her start the second half and play a few minutes and that's all we needed from her. (Now) a week off here and hopefully it gets back to where she's feeling good. She told me she felt okay today. If she had to play 30 minutes she could, but it's just tomorrow that she might not be able to practice for three days. So that's going to be the biggest challenge. I've got to make sure we manage Tia's playing time so we can get her through the entire season because we definitely have to have her now."
(On the focus the team had tonight) "You know what, it was a big boost when Antonita Slaughter got released from the hospital. She came to our shoot around and actually spent the night in the dorms last night. For our kids to be able to see her it was a big boost for them. It has been a long week there is no question about it. It has been a long week for our players. There was a lot of uncertainty of what was going on. It is something I hope I never have to experience again and something I hope my players never have to see again. A teammate is laying there unresponsive and her eyes are fixed it was extremely scary."
(On Shawnta' Dyer getting better every game) "Shawnta' is doing a very nice job. It is about her getting back in to the flow of things. Her conditioning is going to be a big part of it. I saw tonight she is getting in better shape, which is why you are starting to see the productivity in what she was doing. She was playing really well last year, up until she tore her ACL. If we can get her back to full strength it is going to give us another option in the post."
(On if the team played a complete game) "I think it was the best all-around game we played this year, no question about it. We haven't made free throws. It was a really good basketball game and we needed this game. I was not expecting this,not at all. I think our kids needed it."
(On how they slowed down Kim Demmings) "Our goal was to make sure we were there on the catch every time she touched the basketball. She is a special player and she will probably be on the Wade Trophy list or watch list. You didn't get a chance to see it tonight. She is a special basketball player. She scored 90 points in three games over Thanksgiving break. Those games included NC State, James Madison, and Middle Tennessee State, quality basketball programs."
(On if he was surprised with the looks Shoni Schimmel got tonight) "I think what we did a really nice job of was going inside out. They do a great job of help side. Especially because of their size, they have to give a little more help in the post. We did a really nice job of throwing it in. Our post did a nice job of kicking the ball back out. She had good looks in transition, which is what she has to do. That is a positive thing for us."
(On Antonita Slaughter's mental state right now "It is not easy for her right now but I have really been impressed with how she has handled all of it. You go from being in college playing ball and going to class and you think everything is great; to being in the hospital having 100 different tests run on you. She has really been good, and I think that is what has helped our team. She is at the game, she is smiling and cheering and encouraging everyone. She still has some more tests in front of her. We are still trying to figure out what is going on with her heart. The blood clot is a different thing all together; we are just fortunate that they found it with all the testing they were doing. We are still waiting on that and it could be a few weeks away to a month, who knows? We are going to continue until we find out what is wrong."
(On all the players replacing Antonita Slaughter's production) "It is a really good thing. That is one thing we talked about before the game. I don't need everyone to think that they need to make up Antonita's (Slaughter) nine points. If she were playing tonight, I would have put her on Kim Demmings because of her length and her size. Now, we moved Asia Taylor on her to start the game. We have to have some players who are willing to step up and make some plays defensively for us like Antonita (Slaughter) used to do. I said on the radio that I need a few of them to knock down some threes. We don't have anyone who is going to replace Antonita's (Slaughter) three0point shooting, not one. What we have to find is a few of them. Megan Deines going 1-for-1 from the three-point line is exactly what we needed. I don't need her taking four or five of them. I need her to go 1-for-2, or 1-for-3 where now she has to be guarded. Then you have to worry about the fact that she can shoot the three."
Senior F Asia Taylor
(on first game back without Antonita) "Well, it is definitely a sad thing that that happened. We're all going to miss her of course, but we all know the season goes on. She is there at practice and everything being her normal self. It is good to have her around. Our goal is still to go to Nashville no matter what. These are games where we have to come out and just dominate from the tip."
(on the defensive effort) "We put big emphasis on that in practice. I know that they are a good basketball team. We watched a lot of film on them and number 4 is a really good player. So we just tried to frustrate her by making her take contested shots. When she did get open looks, somebody was flying at her. I know Sara helped me out a bunch of times. Jude helps out just making sure she didn't get any clean looks. And I think once we stopped her, everybody else was just kind of overwhelmed."
Senior G Shoni Schimmel
(on being extra focused) "We definitely brought a lot of focus. They are a great basketball team and we knew that. We had to shut down a couple of their players and not to let them get going. They have three great players that are averaging over 15 points, so it was like how do you go out there and stop them. We started watching film on them on Thursday. So for us to bring all of our focus helped us in the end."
(On Cortnee and Shawnta's play) "They did a lot of good things. We've been trying to get them the ball and get them going so when we play bigger games they will be ready. We're trying to give them good quality minutes and it's going to help us in the end. They rebounded and scored tonight it was a big emphasis on them because they didn't have much down low. They played well tonight."
(On the rebounding margin) "We know what with Antonita out, she was a big factor for us in the rebounding game. Regardless of her scoring she still helped us in the rebounding game. In these games we can't make up the slack but fill spots for those rebounds. You know we're trying to fill in for her but she's still one of us."
(On is the best team performance) "Collectively yea as a group I think we played well, we only have to grow from here. I think we played good today but there is always a bigger step we can take as basketball players."
Junior F Sara Hammond
(on free-throw shooting) "That was a big emphasis too, coming into this game because I think they go to the free-throw line like 33 times a game. Coach just said especially our foul trouble lately and putting teams on the line was a big emphasis. They are very fast. Like Shoni said, their guards average like 15 points a game. So to have that stat at the end is just a big confidence boost for us knowing that our defense is getting better. We're not fouling as much and we're not allowing teams to get easy points at the free-throw line."
(On Coach Walz's task list) "He just talked a lot about defense because of how good of a team they were. I mean this team just beat NC State and James Madison, and those are two great teams that will be seen in the NCAA tournament. I think we focused on their three main players, that we limited their touches and didn't allow them to get into the paint as much. They have a dribble drive type offense, but I think the coaches were very proud with our defense tonight. I mean we had a chance to have everyone in and show coach what we really could do. Rebounding was a big factor that coach talked about before the game not only from our post but as a group. With Nita being out is a big thing, that means we all need to step up and make sure we are doing what we can."
