Louisville vs. Seton Hall
February 27, 2013 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2013
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On Seton Hall's performance and the play of their guards) "Their guards are good. That's something that we tried to explain to our kids before the game for the past two days. Their guards will make them go. It's one of those (things), when you let someone come out and make some shots starting off the game, then all of a sudden they become confident. And I think they had the first 18 points between them. We could just never really get a big lead and pull away. It's a win and I'm going to take it. I won't give it back. Offensively, we scored plenty of points. That's not the problem. We didn't rebound the ball very well tonight. And that's what we have to fix in a hurry because if you want to win in tournament time you've got to defend and rebound."
(On Monique Reid) "It's been a great five years for Mo'. The past two years obviously she's had to deal with injuries. But she's meant a lot to our program. She's done some great things. And like I told her, when I recruited her there were a lot of people around here that said, `She'll never make it. She doesn't go that hard. Sure she's scored 50 and 40 points in high school, but she's not going to be able to do it at the next level.' I think she proved everybody wrong. She's had some great games and she's had some suspect games. Overall, she's had a great career. I'm really excited for her. I'm going to tell her, we've got Monday (vs. Syracuse), Big East Tournament, and the NCAA Tournament and give it all you've got. Let's see what happens. When it's over you can at least take a step back and say you gave it everything you had."
(On Shelby Harper) "She's great. She's one that you aren't going to see her up there in the top 10 in scoring, the top 10 in assists or rebounding. But without a doubt she's in the top 10 for effort. I would be hard pressed to find 10 players that have played here that play as hard as she plays every single night and every single day at practice. I know what I'm going to get. She never complains and it's refreshing. I told her mom, if my daughters grow up to be like her then I'm going to be really proud. Because she's not only a great person, she's a great ambassador for our university and our women's basketball program. It doesn't matter if it's 10 or 15 years from now but when she comes back, they are all going to cheer for her. Everybody's going to know her. That's something that you can never take away and that's just because of how hard she's played."
(On his team's shooting performance) "Yeah, we shot the ball well. I was really pleased with the way we shot free throws tonight. If we can continue to shoot it between 75 percent and 80 percent from the line, we're going to be able to win some games. I'm really pleased with our 3-point shooting, I thought we did a nice job of sharing the basketball. Our goal was 20 assists, and we ended up with 16 but we missed two or three (shots) where we could have had 18 or 19 (assists) easily. For the most part I was really happy with how well we shot it. What we have to do though is continue to work on guarding people. It's kind of frustrating because Villanova is a hard team to guard. I thought we did a great job defending them and then we come here tonight and we just don't have the same intensity or urgency to defend."
(On the interior play by Sheronne Vails and Cortnee Walton) "Cortnee (Walton) has been coming to practice every day just getting better and better. Sheronne (Vails) is the same way. Sara (Hammond) didn't have two great days of practice, not necessarily her effort but her mental approach to it and it kind of showed tonight. I think it's a good learning experience for her that this is a level of play that you've got to be mentally prepared every day you come to practice and then it carries over. I kind of like to compare it to when you have an exam and you study for it you normally do pretty well. If you don't study you probably don't do well. That is the same way with basketball. If you come and have good days of practice, you'll probably have good games."
(On his thoughts about Antonita Slaughter) "I'll be disappointed is she's not the most improved player in our league. I'm not sure what the other coaches have watched or who've they've watched, but there's nobody close in our league. I'll be shocked if she's not first or second team all-conference player. She deserves it. There is no question about that. We're 23-6 (11-4) and if you go back to her last 15 games and she what she has done. I think there could only be two or three games that she hasn't hit double figures. Her rebounding, her passing, I mean it's all been great. I'm excited for Antonita and I think she is starting to realize how good she can be and she has had a tremendous junior year. We're going to finish up strong and I'm still going to expect her to improve for her senior year."
(On how hitting the three point shot affects the game) "Well it really opens things up. When we're able to step out there and hit some threes it really opens things up for our post players. It's more one-on-one in the post and that is what we need to do. We need to be able to hit outside shots, but we also need to go inside-out and I thought we did that tonight. We threw it into Sheronne (Vails), Sheronne makes a nice catch in the post, instead of forcing it up she kicks it out to Antonita (Slaughter) who hits a three. That's what I keep remind out players, if you want to be a good basketball team you have to go inside-out. We're going to keep working on that. I was just pleased with how we played and how we got our three point shots. I thought we got some real good ones."
(On his thoughts of Syracuse's play this season) "They have some very talented players. (Kayla) Alexander at the five does a great job, (Brittney) Sykes at the point guard, and (Carmen) Tyson-Thomas are really special players and what I like about them is that they play with a chip on their shoulder. They're like, `Hey, we should be ranked higher, we should be getting this recognition, that recognition.' Instead of just talking about it, they go out and prove it on the court. So, I'm really impressed with that and we're going to have our hands full. We're going to have to go up there and play a really tough game. We're going to have to take it at them, because if you stay back on your heels they'll make it a long night."
(On the Louisville hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament) "I really just want to encourage our fans to buy, buy, buy. Get out here and buy NCAA Tournament tickets. The reason the BIG EAST Tournament is always up there at UConn is because they put 10,000 fans in the XL Center. So let's come out here and show people that they should be holding the BIG EAST Tournament down here. You can't do that if you we only put 6,000 to 8,000 in here for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. You've got to put your money where your mouth is, as they say, and I'm hoping we can get our fans out here. They've been great all season. I just want to make sure they're prepared for one last run here in the NCAA Tournament."
Senior Guard Shelby Harper
(On what she was thinking once the game was over) "Since were coming back here it hasn't really hit me yet. Hopefully our fans will be back for the NCAA tournament."
(On how big the final game is for the team) "We will be rank 3rd in the Big East if we win the game if I am correct. Then we would get a double bye which would be great for us."
(On advice for the returning players) " It goes by way too fast. Work hard everyday. Do your best everyday because it goes by before you know it."
Senior Forward Monique Reid
(On what she was thinking once the game was over) "I mean it was great, everybody knows it has always been my dream to play here. I started off as a little ball kid with a dream. This is amazing, the fan support and the support from everybody else, its been great."
(On what they expected from Seton Hall) "We did a bad job of executing on defense because we knew that there guards were there top best scorers. We did a little better job in the second half of not going over screens and just paying attention to the scouting report. Some people are drivers, some are shooters and we just paid more attention to detail in the second half. The first half we looked awful."
(On how big the final game is for seeding) "Its huge. We just want to win every game and get the best seed we can. We want to go out and beat Syracuse, its going to be a big game for us and if we can beat them Monday we can get a great seed and that would be good for our team."
(On Seton Hall and whether they can cause some trouble in the Big East Tournament) "I definitely think so. The Big East is a scary league and anybody on any given night can lose. The Big East is wide open. Besides basically No. 1 and No. 2 it's all open after that. They're a really good athletic team and they can be scary down the stretch. They played us really well."
(On how determined she was to play in the game) "I wasn't really worried about it. If I can do it, I can do it. If I couldn't, I couldn't. I'm more worried about the team than me playing. I want to win. If they can do that with or without me, that's perfectly fine with me. I've come to that conclusion with a little maturity. I can't worry about myself because the game's going on and plays are going on."
(On advice for the returning players) " Enjoy every moment because - I can testify, I was at the very top of the league and then injuries happened. Give everything you got everyday, play to your best ability, and grow as a person - not only on the basketball court but off the court."
Junior Forward Antonita Slaughter
(On her thoughts about Monique and Shelby) "Just being their teammate I've gotten to know them each more and more. I love them like sisters and with them gone it's going to be a lot different, and this team is really going to miss them."
