Postgame Quotes
March 24, 2013 | Women's Basketball
March 24, 2013
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Louisville Quotes
Louisville Jeff Walz - Louisville Head Coach
Opening Statement
"We'd first like to thank our crowd. It was fantastic to have the excitement in the arena that we had. Not only from our side but I thought Middle Tennessee's crowd was very well represented and they got loud on several occasions. It's fun for our players and their players to be able to play in environments like this. That's my first (point), I'd just really like to thank both crowds that came out tonight. We'd like to congratulate them. Rick (Insell) does a great job with his team. They play hard. They don't quit and I think it showed tonight. We had the opportunity tonight to put them away at the start. Unfortunately, we missed some lay-ups, then some free throws, but they continued to fight and before you know it, it's a one-point game with 16 minutes to go. It didn't surprise me that it was that type of game there, but I'm really pleased to have the opportunity to play on Tuesday night. I thought our players did a really nice job of handling some difficult situations at times. We really just continued to fight and we play as a team and we're looking forward to the opportunity to play on Tuesday."
On the team starting 1-10 from the 3-point line and what got them going after
"There's really nothing we can do. We got good looks. I thought Antonita Slaughter had some great looks. Right now, unfortunately, she's been struggling. But, I'm still going to go with her because we need her to play. If we're going to advance in this tournament she has got to be able to knock down some shots for us. She is the x-factor. She's had an unbelievable year and exceeded everyone's expectations. Now we just need her to get a little confidence back because I've got the confidence in her. Her freshman year, I told her several times she was going to be a manager because she would not go hard, she would not put the work in. This past year, she's really dedicated herself to wanting to be a player. In return she's had a great year. I'm just going to continue to build her up. We are going to continue to get her open shots. As soon as she can get one to go then I think she'll be fine. I was pleased with the defensive effort. I was pleased with the fact that we didn't let one bad play turn into five. We went on a drought there where we didn't score for a while. (We) missed some lay-ups but we continued to guard. For us to be successful that's what we have to do."
On the team's defense today
"To start the second half we got a seven point lead and we allowed them to get back-to-back threes just by not communicating. We went over the top on two screens when we were supposed to trail them off the screen. They knocked down two shots and before you know it it's a one-point game. Finally, we got back to doing what we're supposed to do and that's ride them off screens. We doubled the on-ball screen and we tried to cause as much chaos as we could. We switched up some defenses. When you can force a team of their caliber to turn the ball over 24 times, you're doing something right because they're a very solid basketball team. To me the stat of the game was we get 31 points off of their 24 turnovers. When you get that you've got the opportunity to win a lot of basketball games."
On the confidence he has in Shoni Schimmel to deliver a solid performance like today
"I have tons. She's a big time player. She likes to take the big shot. What I've really been impressed with her is she's grown over these last three years and she's learning now to trust her teammates. Her first two years she would take those big shots but she'd be the one having to create them for herself. She would be coming down the floor in transition and try to make a spectacular move and finish. Now, she made three or four shots out of the offense because we ran some things for her and she lets it develop. She takes the shot and she's on balance. When she can get her feet underneath of her and take a balanced shot it's going in."
On his pre-game objectives for the team
"I thought we did fantastic. Our goal was under 15 turnovers. We turned the ball over eight times. Our other goal was to get 35 deflections in the game. I haven't seen it, but if you come up with 18 steals I'm sure we've reached that easily. Our goal was 16-plus assists. We get 19 assists on 30 made field goals, which is pretty impressive."
On converting layups
"It's unbelievable. I just shake my head at times. Like I tell them, we can't get you any closer. You just have to focus and put one in. It's not just one player, it's everybody. At halftime I told them we didn't convert two on ones or three on two very well in the first half. If we would have converted those opportunities we would be up 16 or 18 points. We have got to make layups and free throws. I tell them every year when you make it to March you have to rebound, defend, and make free throws. We defended, I don't think we rebounded extremely well, and then we went 12 out of 22 from the free throw line will not normally lead to a win."
On the play of Monique Reid
"I was proud of Monique. Although at the end of the first half I wasn't very pleased with her. I didn't think she was going very hard. She was turning the basketball over and had some bad passes. I just told her if she wasn't going to play hard then I'm not going to play you. The second time she went back in, she started to play like the player that we know she can be."
On getting 23 minutes out of Monique Reid
"Once I put her into the game, I try not to take her out. Once she gets going, she can play a good stretch of the game. Our trainers and doctors have done a fantastic job. I'm just trying to get the knee under control because it swells a lot."
On focusing on Purdue
"We are going to take it one game at a time. We have to take care of ourselves first and fix some of the areas that we have improved and then it will be all about the scouting report. I'm not worrying about if we win Tuesday night then who our opponent will be. We have to take care of business. I was concerned about MTSU. They have three big time players that caused us some problems today."
Thoughts about Purdue
"They are talented. Their guards are very impressive. I was part of the staff at Maryland when we signed Drey Mingo to go there. The year she was supposed to come in as a freshman was the year when I got the job at Louisville. She plays the game with passion. It's going to come down to who is going to make big plays. This is going to be a very good basketball game. If we can turn the ball over less than 10 times then it will be a great night for us because I was really impressed with how hard their guards defend."
Thoughts on the crowd
"The 6,000 that was here I was very impressed with. They got loud and got behind our team. I would like to challenge our fans and see if we can get 8,000 to come in here on Tuesday night. The fans are going to get a chance to see what should be a very good basketball game, two talented teams with some talented players. This is the last home game that will be played for the year. I would love to see if we could get 8,000 fans here and to come out and see a great game."
On what sparked a big second half run
"Like Coach said, we just scored more points. We kept going and we knew that defense was going to help us. Defense and rebounding is our main thing that we're working on right now and because we need to those two things to advance. So we just kept staying with the mentality of doing defense, playing defense, and rebounding and that's exactly what helped us get on that run. I think at the end of the run, it was 28-3, or something like that? That's just what got us going was defense - getting those easy buckets and layups and that's what helped us."
On wanting to have a big game in the NCAA Tournament
"Every game is a big game but being in the NCAA Tournament, it's great to play a big game, not only by myself, but with my teammates and that's the main thing that's great about it is that our whole team played great today. A few missed a couple shots but other than that, they're going to bounce back and that's the great thing about our team - everybody can do everything and we're going to have a good game on Tuesday too."
On her play sparking a huge second half run
"It was just exciting and it was a game-changer at that point because the momentum totally changed and it went our way instead of their way. They went on their little run and we just went on our run after that."
On the team's eight turnovers
"Our goal was under 15 turnovers and we ended the game at 8. That's a big step. When we went on our run in the middle of Big East [play], we were turning the ball over at less than 15. So for us to get back to that, it's a great start for the NCAA Tournament."
On guarding against overconfidence when the score was 20-3 in the first half
"I didn't know it was 20-3 until I was like, 'Wait, what?' We were just playing and I felt we had to go out there and play and just to open up like that, it was just great especially with our crowd here. Just having them here and having them behind us the whole time was just awesome to play in front of."
On her sister Jude's improvement
"Jude coming off the bench is just great. She's doing a great job for us defense-wise and bringing the ball up the court sometimes instead of Bria. Bria even plays the three sometimes with us in there. We have a lot of guards that can do a lot of things and with Jude coming in, she's just more confidence in a sense that she's ready to play. So I think she's grown a lot since her freshman year and she's stepping up."
On scouting Purdue
"We kind of watched them today, the first half. I know they're a pretty good basketball team and they're here for a reason. It's just another game in the NCAA Tournament, anything can happen."
On her injured knee
"The knee's feeling fine. I'm ready to go."
On the crowd today
"We really have an amazing crowd."
On Shoni Schimmel's performance
"She definitely matured as a player. I feel like every year, she's just getting a little bit better and better and more time to score. Great players make great plays. We had a lot of confidence in her today and we set good screens in getting her open and she was just knocking down big shots and if she continues to do that, we'll go on and win the tournament."
On if she thinks guarding Purdue's post players will be a challenge
"Yeah, definitely. Every night's a challenge. I feel like if we play harder, play our game, we'll do good. We always want to battle inside and I feel like our bigs our stepping up, like Sheronne [Vails], she might miss some layups but she's definitely stepping up on D, and she got a lot of offensive rebounds. Our bigs win the battle with anybody."
On preparing for the NCAA Tournament and her performance
"Yeah. I didn't even know I had 15 points. They told me in the locker room. It doesn't seem like it. I felt like we just played good defense. I felt pretty good communicating on the floor so I just wanted to go out there and play good defense. I felt like our defense definitely led to our offense. If we keep playing like that, we're going to do really good. I'm not worried about points. I used to be but it comes with maturity."
On being determined to get ready for the tournament
"I was very determined [like] there's no tomorrow. I don't have a sixth year. I don't want a sixth year. I was very determined and I'm not going to let my injury bring me down. I'm doing this for our fans, doing it for our fans, and doing it for my family. I'm not going out like that. Bring me a wheelchair and I'll go out there and play."
On when she stopped worrying about points
"I stopped worrying about points probably after I got hurt my first senior year. Sitting out, I got a lot of opportunities to watch the game and get my focus. Today, I wasn't worried about points. I was trying to set good screens. We got Shoni open a lot because of the post. As lightning quick as Shoni is, it still takes people to help her get open too. But, probably my senior year, just maturing a little bit and watching the game because you don't have to be effective just by scoring. I come in and take charges and bring energy on defense. That's my main focus, I'm just trying to play hard. I'm not worried about points.
On missing easy shots during the game
"We just have to focus more on making the shots. We get open shots by the offenses that we run and by running the transition, but it's our duty to just complete it. I think our defense is what got us this win today - just turning them over and being able to get easy buckets. It was just good for our team."
On the team's eight turnovers
"It feels great. It's one of our focuses. Coach always tells us that we need to protect the ball more and just make good passes and not turn over the ball because at this point into the season, we can't do that if we want to advance. It's just a good feeling knowing that we only have that amount."
On her rebounding performance
"The coaches were telling me how the guards on their team weren't really boxing out that much so I just thought it was a good opportunity for me to get in there and make it easier for our team to get the ball and get offensive looks."
On the team's performance with Monique Reid playing
"[I feel] very good. I think that we just have a team chemistry that if everybody steps up, we're just going to be great. I'm looking forward to the next game."
Middle Tennessee Quotes
Head Coach Rick InsellOpening statement
"Too many turnovers. We felt like Louisville might give our guards some problems because we're so small and they have so much length and we're so young with a freshman and a sophomore. It was good coaching on Jeff's (Walz) part. His team reacted well. They changed defenses on us and gave us some problems. We couldn't get in sync with our offense. We cut it to one and I felt like we were pretty much in charge, then we turned the ball over a time or two when we just didn't take care of it. I'm not going to say that was the difference in the game. I think the difference probably was them changing their defense and pressuring up on our guards. Not blaming our guards, don't get me wrong because they just haven't been through that yet. Hopefully they learn from this and next time we get the opportunity to play somebody like Louisville we'll handle the situation. I'm proud of our basketball team. I'm proud of the year. I'm proud of our university."
On preparing for Louisville's length at guard
"At the end of the semester we were able to use some male practice players. I feel like it's made our basketball team a little better. When you're 6'-2, 6-3 and you're running at our guards and they're 5-3 and 5-2, it's difficult to pass through them and you can't pass over them. We made a few bad decisions and they went on a run early. We got back in the game because we handled their pressure, but then they came back at us. I thought we had a couple of unforced turnovers where we stepped out of bounds and stuff like that. That's just attributed to the fact that we're young at those positions and hopefully we'll grow out of that."
On making a comeback in the first half
"I felt like we got two looks when we were one down. Kortni (Jones) had a wide open three which I felt like eight out of ten times she knocks that down. That would've put us up two. Then I think we had a defensive stop and then had another chance to get a knock down. These young ladies have weathered so many storms this year. We've had so many close games that really and truly when it was 18-3, I felt like we could get back in the game. We had a couple of possessions there before the half to get it to five or maybe even three. We talked about that during the half and felt like coming back out just stay with our offense, try not to go out of the box, turn it, and we'd get what we wanted and we did. We just weren't able to knock down some shots. It may have been a little bit of fatigue, I don't know. I'm so proud of them for not quitting."
On Shoni Schimmel
That's what she's supposed to do. We knew coming out that they were going to give it to her. When we cut it to one they were not going to give it to anyone else but her and she was going to make a play or knock down a shot and she did that. That's what your marquee player is supposed to do. That's why we go to Ebony (Rowe) and that's why we put the ball in Kortni's hands."
On players returning next year
"I feel really good about what we have coming back. Our recruiting class is good. We've got another Kentucky girl coming in. I hope she's as good as the one we've got now. I think she will be. We've got some good young ladies coming on board from the state and we've got some young ladies who are on the bench but just need a little more growing up. I feel really good about it. I'm excited about what we've got coming back. We don't just have a team at Middle Tennessee, we've got a program. If you look you'll see the last 10 or 11 years we've been to the NCAA tournament. What we've got to do is take it one more step and that's what we're in the process of building right now."
On what Kortni Jones and Icelyn Elie have meant to the program
"Everything to be honest with you. They do it all. It's not going to be the same. Kortni has been playing for me since she was 12 years old. She's going to have to play for somebody else now. She came through our travel team and AAU program. Icelyn Elie is just an amazing athlete who's turned into a very good basketball player. I think you saw that. At halftime she was three for three. We just ask her to do so much; guard the perimeter, stay inside for the post. She just does everything. There will be somebody else to step up and fill her shoes."
On Louisville's ability to go on runs
"First off you've got a good coach that prepares his team for that. He's got the players in the right position. He knows exactly what he wants to do. We knew that Jeff was going to alert us to what was going on and it'd be up to us to take advantage of that and we didn't do a very good job. If you want to go back to anything you go back to Jeff and what he's done. His players have bought into what he wants to do and they execute it to a T. If the ship was going to be going down it was in (Shoni) Schimmel's hands. That's very, very smart."
Icelyne Elie
On her Career at the University of Middle Tennessee
"It's been a great experience and I have learned so much from being here, coming in freshman year was tough but that's when I learned the most, coming in and playing with upper classmen. But overall I have enjoyed my experience playing for this college."
Kortni Jones
On your Career at University of Middle Tennessee.
"It's been nothing but great and I am extremely blessed to have the experience to play here. I feel like I picked the right place to come to show case my skills, and I had a great coaching staff and University behind me because they wanted to be not because they had to be. So for me it has been nothing but great."
Ebony Rowe
On how they defended you
"It was nothing we didn't expect, they said they were just not going to let me control the tempo of the game and not let me get a lot of touch's on the ball."
Kortni Jones
On how difficult it was to simulate their traps
"It's harder when your practice players are the same size and the same length as you. We don't have guards that are as long as them so it's really hard when that's not exactly what you're practicing against. The emotion and just being in the tournament helped them out too, and they just got the job done."
On how they got back into the game after being down
"Staying settled and executing, that's something our coaches have been preaching to us since the Sun Belt Tournament. That's how you win games and that's how you stay in games, and that's how you make a comeback which is exactly what we did."
Icelyn Elie
On what the mindset was when they were down
"We have been in that position plenty of times this year, we just held ourselves together and we knew that there was a chance for us to come back. It was early in the game, and we need to be able to handle that kind of pressure."
