Louisville vs. South Florida
February 20, 2013 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2013
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On being down by two points at halftime and allowing South Florida to score the first six points of the second half) "We did not come to play unfortunately. I wish I had an answer for you. We had talked to the players about the importance of this game for us, and the importance of this game for them. They are playing for their lives. We come out the first four minutes of the game and we just didn't show up. We did not follow a scouting report at all and we allowed Andrea Smith to drive left and pull up and shoot spot up for 3-pointers. It's like we didn't care. Everything we told them they were going to do, they did. And did it well because they are really good players. Unfortunately for us we can't just come out here and show up and play. I've said that from day one. If we don't have a game plan and follow a game plan, we're not just going to go out there and win. But when we execute a game plan we are pretty good. But unfortunately tonight I think we tried to just say `alright let's see if we can do this ourselves' and obviously it did not work out."
(On his impressions of Andrea Smith as a player) "She's a big time player. We know the kid can score in bunches. We let her get going early, which was a huge mistake for us. I think she had 16 in the first six or seven minutes of the game. And then we did a great job of stopping her for the rest of the half. Then all of a sudden we come out in the second half and we did the same stuff - just sit there and allow her to drive left, pull up and shoot, get wide open threes. This is the first time all season where I didn't know who we were out there. It was not a Louisville effort tonight, mentally or physically. And it's a shame to do it at home."
(On the team having momentum coming into the game) "If you don't play hard you're not going to win. We didn't play hard. We didn't follow a game plan. That's all there is to it. When we don't shoot the ball well we just don't decide to guard. We missed some shots early and we said the heck with it we aren't going to guard. And then they embarrassed us. We got embarrassed tonight. If we can't take a step back and evaluate ourselves, myself included, then we aren't going to have a chance to go very far. I'm hoping that our players take a second to look in the mirror and say, `I got embarrassed tonight. I've got to come to work tomorrow'."
(On South Florida as a team worthy of the NCAA Tournament)" They have great guards, Andrea Smith had 35 (points) tonight. The kid has done it before and we know she has. But, for some reason the importance to guard her was not there tonight. The urgency to say we have to stop her just was not there."
(On the matchup with Inga Orekhova) "She does a nice job. It's not the matchup it's the scout. You don't allow her to drive left, and we allowed her to drive left. She was 4 for 6 inside the 3-point line on left hand drives. You have got to make her go to the hand that she doesn't want to. There's a reason me and my staff sit there and watch film and break down film game after game. You can learn tendency of players. Unfortunately for us it wasn't that important to us tonight."
(On what to expect from the team in the next couple days) "We will get a day's rest tomorrow. We have to come back Friday and Saturday and get prepared to play a very tough Villanova team at Villanova. The way they set screens, use screens, shoot threes- it's a bear to guard. We are going to have our hands full no question about it."
(On upcoming Senior Night) " Monique Reid has had a rough year and a half with her knee. She is just a fighter and it's been great having the opportunity to coach her. She was one of the first to come in here and take a chance on this program. She was big part of our national final run and he has had a lot of great experiences. I know this is something she has really enjoyed and we are very glad that she was a part of it. She has been a part of two Sweet 16 teams. Shelby, of course is a fan favorite, everybody loves her. She has really meant a lot to this program. I appreciate not just her but her family as well and everybody that is involved with her and how supportive they have been. We will miss her also."
(Thoughts about Davionna Holmes) "We are just looking for some size. She has practiced a few days and does some really nice things. We will see how things go, and give her a week more of practice and it wouldn't surprise me if I put her into a game."
Sophomore forward Sara Hammond
(On what happened in the second half) "We started off the very beginning of the game the same way we did the second half, we had no energy we were on our heels and we let them get a run. I guess they were looking for revenge because we went down there and beat them on their home court. You have to give them credit, they came out and played hard, and played with energy and got there guards going. We were just on our heels the whole game."
(On how important this game was for South Florida) "Coming into this game we knew that they needed a big win on the road because their play in Big East hasn't been going their way. I think their coach was probably pushing how they needed a big win against a Top 15 team. Like Shoni said, Andrea Smith came out and shot lights out and the rest of the group followed her and just had an all-around good game."
Junior guard Shoni Schimmel
(On Andrea Smiths performance) "She came out and hit her first couple shots and good for her but bad for us, so for us to let her get going like that was bad. It just kind of flowed over to everything and it's just something to learn from, it wasn't a good game for us on defense."
(On if that was the best performance by an opposing player) "I would say personally that it was a great game for her just because she came out and didn't miss in the first four minutes. So for her to come out and just light us up, I guess we were just on our heels and didn't know what to do in a sense. We came back but just ended up short."
(thoughts on this year's tournament pressure compared to last year) "I mean every year is different. For us to be as good as we have been doing this year in the Big East is good. For us to get to where we are now, we just got to keep going and keep winning games. That's exactly what we are trying to do."
(on the physical aspect of the game) "I got whacked in the face. It hurt, but you pop back up and continue to play, because the game is still going. Every game is going to be physical. We're getting to the end of Big East play, so you just got to go with the bumps and bruises."
(On Senior Week and the team's seniors) "Mo' [Monique Reid], Shelby [Harper], and Asia [Taylor] too - our seniors are our leaders for the most part because they've been here for so long. Monique's been here for five years. Senior night - it's sad, but at the same time, it's still exciting because it's their night they get to go out and just have a ball."
