Louisville-North Carolina Postgame Quotes
February 15, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On the 15-4 run to end the game)
“We stepped up and made free throws. I think if we don't knock down free throws, it's definitely not going to be a 15-4 run. We executed some set plays when we needed to at crunch time, Sara (Hammond) comes up with a big basket on a set play that we run her with about 1:10 left. Thought we did much better job defensively in the second half of keeping them off the glass. I thought they got every offensive rebound they wanted in the first half, and you can't compete with a Carolina team if you're not going to rebound. So, I challenged them in that area and then turnovers. We were passing them out left and right like we were running a bakery. It's like you want an apple, we'll give you an apple turnover, I mean it was awful. And you can't win against Carolina by throwing them the basketball. And I thought we did a much better job, they had 18 points in the first half off of our turnovers, and we cut it to seven in the second half. And then I think to flip that, what did we have, we had two points in the first half off their turnovers and we ended up getting 12, so we won that battle, which was something if we could have kept it even, I would have been please with, but being able to win that battle in the second half was very important.”
(On if the game changed when Allisha Gray fouled out)
“I mean she's a dynamic player. It's similar to when we're at Florida State and Mariya Moore fouls out. All the sudden, she's a good 3-point shooter, but she's an even bigger threat, you can't leave her open. Mariya's the same way, when she's on the floor, you have to guard her, you have to know where she is. And when (Gray) went out, we were able to do some different things defensively. We had been playing some zone, but we really stuck with it more when she went out. So I thought we did a nice job there. I thought (Stephanie) Mavunga played extremely well, but we did a decent job of limiting her touches. She ends up going 7-for-11 from the field, she was very efficient, but she only got 11 shots, and I thought that was an important part of the game for us also.”
(On how big of a win this was at this point in the year)
“It's a big win for us and we're aware of that, because we're right now competing for a top four seed in the ACC tournament. If you're one of the top four, you get a double-bye, and that's what we'd like to have. But at the same time, you can't take anyone for granted in this league. So we know going down here to Blacksburg (Va.) on Thursday, if we think we're good and that's all great, we're going to end up getting beat coming back, and then this win doesn't mean much. So it's a big win for us because it helps the tiebreaker situation when you get down to that final four in the ACC tournament, and at the same time, I think our kids needed a win like this. I told them before the game started, we have to win by executing. We've got to pass the basketball, we've got to do the little things, we've got to rebound, we've got to make sure that we make that extra pass. You might have a good shot, but your teammate has an even better shot, and I thought we did that really well in the second half. We only ended up making 23 field goals, but we assisted on 16 of them. SO that shows you that we're getting some things done by passing the ball.”
(On what made Mariya Moore so effective)
“She's just a gamer. The kid loves to play. Now there were a few times I wish she would have threw it to our team a little more, but besides that she's in there, she's mixing it up, she gets to the free throw line 12 times, goes 11-for-12 and I think the one she missed we actually got back, so I'd keep that stat. I know we missed one the first half, then Emmonnie (Henderson) gets it back, so I've got to see if we scored on it. Because we end up going 26-of-30, but if you're figuring out a way to get back your misses and scoring, it's the same thing as making them. If you make them, you aren't getting them back.”
(On starting the game on pace to commit 40 turnovers and stopping that)
“I gave some players some opportunity the first half, then I didn't give them the opportunity in the second half. And 'I'm okay coach, I'm fine,' well no, you're not because you can't keep throwing it to the other team. 'My bad' does not work at this time of year. You know what you're supposed to do, you have to execute. And it's tough, it is hard, but that's what we expect of our players, we're expecting them to play at a high level, and the only way we can win games like this is to play at a high level. So after that first 10 to 12 minutes, I thought we did a much better job of taking care of the basketball and rebounding the ball, and that's why we're down 10 in the first half with 7:28 to go and actually take a one-point lead with about a minute and a half. Then they come down and miss a shot, we don't box out, they score. Then we turn it over, they go down and score. So the two things we talked about we have to do against Carolina and everybody we play is rebound and take care of the ball.”
(On letting Stephanie Mavunga get the ball and then starting to front her)
“We weren't supposed to allow her to do that. We just, I think a few of them decided they'd try some things on their own, and it didn't work out very well in the first half. So it was nice to see us adjust and try a new thing. Like I tell them all the time, make a new mistake. So we did, we made it work, and Emmonnie (Henderson) was a big part of that. Emmonnie did a great job of using her strength to push her out, she fronted her and made it uncomfortable. Myisha (Hines-Allen) as a freshman got abused a few times by Mavunga because she just stood straight behind her. And those are things that we'll show on film that she has to continue to work at and get better on.”
(On if he's seen the video played at halftime of his players talking about why they like playing for him)
“No, I'm sure they lied. I'm sure somebody held their money back or something, said there's no food money this month or something (laughing).No, I have not seen it. I just demand excellence, and I've got some fans that get upset with that, but I've always been told if you're not going to achieve to be the best, why do anything? So I'm not going to let these young ladies settle for just competing and showing up. When we go out and recruit them, we tell them our goal here is to win a national championship. I want players that want to help compete to win a national championship, and I'm not afraid to say that. I want players that want t help us beat UConn. I think we're 0-15 or something here. So when (Geno Auriemma) got his 900th-and-whatever win, I text him and I said 'congrats, there's 15 from me and your nine national championships, I've given you two.' He likes me a lot, and he should. So I've got to find some players so he might not like me as much, and that's our goal and that's what I tell them. They come here, they know that's what we're striving for, and that's what we're going to continue to strive for.”
(On what is means to have Asia Durr at the game)
“It's great. It's great to see her. She's had a great senior year. Taja Cole came up also, was here. It's neat for I think these kids to see what they're going to get the opportunity to play in front of next year. Because I say it all the time, we aren't the norm, we are the exception. When you can come out here and get 13 thousand on back-to-back home games, I think that says a lot about your fan base. And we're very fortunate to have not only a large number t hat come out, but a very well-educated fan base. They know when to cheer. They know even when we've missed some shots and things aren't going great, they get behind us. And that's what's so important about having a home-court advantage.”
(On his philosophy on bringing in a large group of elite recruits on the same weekend)
“It just worked out. Whenever we can get some recruits to come on campus that we're actively recruiting, I don't care when they come. It's around their schedules and their games, so we just try to get our recruits here whenever we can, and if it works out that we can get them here for a basketball game, the more the better. Because a lot of times you're bringing them in during football season, well they aren't playing football. I want these recruits to see what they're going to get the opportunity to play in front of because it's special here. So it's been fun and we'll keep doing it and keep working hard recruiting and hopefully continue to get some players that can make a difference for us.”
(On what he sees now in Mariya Moore that wasn't there a few months ago)
“She's starting to get a little tougher. She was a little soft when she first got here, and I've challenged her a few times. If things didn't go well for her, she'd put her head down, if she missed a few shots, she'd put her head down. And now she's learning to figure out a way to get to the free throw line instead. She's coming up with some deflections. She passes the ball extremely well, he basketball IQ, her and Jude (Schimmel)'s are off the chart for two players. So if she'll continue to work on some fundamental things, she needs to continue to work on her left hand, her ball handling, her pull-up jump shot, things that, when she get those down, now all the sudden she's really going to be a problem to guard, because right now everybody's trying to run her off the 3-point line, and if she can work on that 15-foot pull-up, then she'll be hard.”
(On Sylvia Hatchell saying there should be eight to 10 teams in the NCAA tournament)
“I agree with that completely. Coach Hatchell is exactly right. You just look at what the ACC has done. We've had some great wins out of conference, we're competing with each other in the league. It's going to be really interesting to see what the committee does when it comes time to select teams. But I think we could easily have eight to 10.”
(On the play of forward Emmonnie Henderson)
“It's getting better. Emmonnie had to work extremely hard this summer on conditioning. That's what she did. Now she's playing like I hoped she'd play her freshman year. I told her, she lost a year. She lost a year of development because she wasn't able to work on her individual game this summer. She had to work on just getting in shape, so now, once we've accomplished that and we still have room to go, once we get the opportunity this spring, summer, fall, to work on her passing, her ball-handling, her passing... you know, it's just like that sideline out-of-bounds in front of our bench, she just throws it in bounds. I'm like, 'Emmonnie, I'm color-blind, but I know she had blue on. Throw it to the one wearing white.' She says, 'Oh, my fault, coach.' We're going to be able to start working on that instead of trying to get her in great shape. So I think the sky is the limit for her. Once she continues to work on that 10-, 15-foot jumper there at the free-throw line, now she's really hard to guard. I was proud of her again. She goes 2-of-2 at the free-throw line, 4-of-4 at Clemson and 2-of-2 tonight. She's really been working on that.”
(On the energy of guard Bria Smith)
“Well, Bria did a really nice job of knocking down free-throws. She goes 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, but more importantly, she ends up with six boards. That's what Bria has to do right now. She played 15 minutes. I thought she did a really nice job, but we've got to get Bria back on track with what we need her to do every day, not just on game day, where she can start making an even bigger impact for this ball club.”
(On what got Smith off track)
“Just, you know, kids. They're college kids. They don't always make the best decision in the world, so we're trying to get her back on my page. I don't think it'll take much longer."
Mariya Moore and Myisha Hines-Allen
(On erasing the 10-point deficit)
Moore: “I think it took focus, not only on the offensive end, but on the defensive end. Our main issue was turnovers, so just taking our time, and breathing, and pump-faking, and just making the better pass.”
(On if the team was “trying too hard” in the first half)
Moore: “I don't know if it was trying too hard. I think it was moving too fast. We already know they're quick, so trying to out-quick them instead of just outsmarting them.”
(On free throw shooting)
Moore: “I take pride in my free throw shooting, so whenever I miss one or two, I'm so upset because I'm trying to not miss any. So I was a little upset when I missed that one, but I had to focus on the game.”
(On her aggressive play)
Moore: “Yeah, I should do that more often. I don't know. I really don't know what happened. My coach told me to take it in if the shot's not there, so that's just what I did.”
(On the win overall)
Moore: “It's definitely a good win, not only because it's one of our last home games, but because it's close to tournament time. We need that for good seeding, but other than that, I think the crowd definitely helped us, too. Playing on the home court feels way better than playing on the road.”
(On North Carolina forward Stephanie Mavunga)
Hines-Allen: “I mean, she's a great post player. I'm not going to take that away. She was really aggressive and it challenged me to play her. She's a very good post player.”
(On keeping composure in a physical game)
Hines-Allen: “We just had to stay level-headed the whole game. We knew they were going to go on a run and that we were going to go on a run, so we just had to play 40 minutes of Louisville basketball to get the win. Playing physical is a part of the game, even if women are playing or men are playing. It's going to get physical. We just had to stay level-headed the whole 40 minutes.”
(On the decision to front-side defend North Carolina's Mavunga)
Hines-Allen: “The coaches did tell me to front her, and play her how (Louisville forward) Emmonnie (Henderson) was playing her. Emmonnie was fronting her every time and made it hard on her to get the ball, and then do a post move on top of that. They just told me to front her, and to watch Emmonnie, how she's playing her.”
(On limiting North Carolina's second-chance points in the second half)
Hines-Allen: “He told us that they out-rebounded us the first half, but we just had to be more physical and attack the boards. We can jump, we can rebound; we just had to box-out first, and then go secure the ball.”
North Carolina Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell
(Opening Statement)
“I feel like I'm preaching; coaching 40 years, I've never been to a press conference that has a podium like this. I thought we should have won the game. Rebounding was a major difference; halftime, they had us by one, but for the game it ended up 47-33. The second, they outrebounded us 24-11, which was major. Allisha fouling out was a major difference. They scored 26 points from the foul line and we scored 12. If you look at the numbers, those are the factors. They shot 30, we shot 14 on the foul line, and then rebounding was a major difference. I thought we should have won the game. We just have to go back and keep working hard and get ready for Wake Forest on Thursday night.”
(On her impressions of the KFC Yum! Center)
“It's like Disneyland. I'm going to tell you I've never seen so many bars in one place in all my life. I mean really, that's not me, but it's a different world now. I've never been in a basketball place where I've seen so many bars. Anyway, it is a nice arena, a lot of lights, and glitter and everything. But it's a nice place.”
(On splitting decisions against two top-10 teams this week and approaching end of regular season)
“I thought we played well in the first half, getting in foul trouble hurt us some. The second half, the rebounding we didn't battle as hard as we needed to, and they got to the foul line way too much in the second half; way too much. So you know, those are differences, and when you play at home, that's sort of a tendency that happens when you play at home. You just have to expect that, but you have to do things to make up for it. I thought Allisha (Gray) getting that fifth foul was crucial. Again, for us, the rebounding was a major factor and the foul line. We are good enough to beat them. Maybe we will play them in the ACC tournament. We will keep working, and we have proved that we can play with a lot of people and we have beaten a lot of ranked teams this year. It hurts us with Selina being out but I hardly ever mention that because I'm not going to make excuses for it. But we have kids going in there battling hard and we will just keep preparing for every game.”
(On Stephanie Mavunga's growth since arriving on campus)
“Stephanie is tough; she is the only one who had decent rebounds tonight. She had 10 (rebounds) and 14 (points). We didn't get it to her enough. I wanted to get it to inside to her even more, but Stephanie is tough in there; she just needs some help. She needs some other people in there to help with the rebounding. I want to get it to her more often because when we usually get it to Stephanie, she can either score or throws it out and finds somebody that is open. Stephanie, for being a sophomore, I think she is without a doubt one of the most talented inside players in the country.”
(On Louisville freshman Mariya Moore)
“She's pretty tough. She had a lot of points especially, even at halftime, she had a lot of points. She was really tough in there and got to the foul line a lot too. She is definitely their best player without a doubt.”
(On having Louisville in the ACC and having games like this against Louisville)
“Well, if you look at the ACC and the other conferences, there isn't another conference that can come close to comparing to the ACC. We played four big Pac 12 teams. We lost to Oregon State; that's the only one that we lost to. We beat Stanford, Oregon, UCLA. You just look at all the other conferences and there's not another one there. Some of the other conferences will have two or three really good teams but the ACC I think has 8-10 teams that should be in the NCAA; because if they weren't in our conference and in another conference, they would probably be top four or five without a doubt. If you are top four or five in the ACC, you are a Final Four team. I think the committee is smart enough to where they will see that.”
Stephanie Mavunga
(On how disappointing the loss is after having a double-digit lead in the first half)
“It's really frustrating actually. We played so well the first half and are capable of beating a team like Louisville. We were really just clicking in the first half, and then second half got drilled on the boards by 13 and that was really a factor in the game plus foul trouble. I feel like the refs let us play a lot in the first half and then, all of a sudden, it was a different ball game in the second half. I'm not saying that we lost because, 'Oh yeah, the refs lost the game,' but I'm saying that is a big factor in the game. You can't really play as aggressive as you want too when you have two or thre fouls in the second half and that quickly happened with Brittany (Rountree), Allisha (Gray), and I got fouls really quick. In the first half, that was N'Dea (Bryant) and Danielle (Butts) and that plays a big role in the game, because then you have to substitute differently. It is really frustrating because we had such a big lead and we were really playing with them and clicking and then, all of a sudden, it's a whole different ballgame, and you have to try to quickly adjust to whatever is happening now.”
(On being able to catch in the post in the first half and then being guarded so tightly in the second)
“When people allow me to catch it, that's a whole different thing. Now, if I get the ball, it's a whole different ballgame because, when I get the ball, my coaches say that there's nobody in the country that can stop me once I get the ball, so it's just a matter of getting the ball. My biggest thing to work on is just getting the ball. When I get double teamed, it's much different to score. It's a much different look and is more difficult. Yes, I can score against two people, but it's much more difficult. That's when I'll start trying to get assists. I got three of those really quick in the first half because I was really seeing where my teammates were going. I think I do much better with single coverage. I think I can be a real threat if I'm single covered.”
(On playing high school basketball one-and-a-half hours away and being this close to home)
“It's great because I put 35 people down today to come watch me play today, so that's great. I'm going to see them in a second here and that is just amazing. Of course, at the same time, it's not as sweet as it would have been because I'm not really satisfied going out there saying, 'Thanks you all came to the game,' and at the same time, I'm thinking about this loss. I'm just a competitive player. I'm competitive no matter what it is - academics, maybe a little pickup game, games like this especially. So this really hits me. Last time I came to the KFC Yum! Center, not so good. That's when I tore something up in my knee, so it's much better leaving injury free, but both times I left with a loss, so that's not so hot.”
(Talk about the communication between you and your brothers. How much do you guys communicate throughout the season?)
“Those guys are my rocks, they are my best friends. My little brother really wanted to be here but he can't stay in the car too long, he's a little jittery. He's right there ESPN2 an hour before the game. We really communicate every single day, I talk to my little brother all the time, I talk to my big brother all the time even though we are on different time zones and we are on three different levels, high school, professional, and college. It is really hard for my parents to try to watch all the games, my mom has traveled overseas many times. My mom comes out to North Carolina and she also goes to my little brothers games, so swinging back and forth and then my dad does the same thing too. I mean we are just a really tight nit family, and those guys always have my back no matter what.”
(On the strategy of trying to limit Louisville from getting interior points)
“I feel like we stuck more to what we did in practice. We really stuck well to that in the first half. We were really fronting the post and making sure it didn't get in there. I think as the game wore on, we started letting the post get the ball inside; not only actual post players, but players like Sara Hammond, and that's how she started scoring her points. I think that also really hurt us, just like you were asking me, once you let a player catch the ball down there, it is really much easier to score down on the block then it is out there on a 15 footer or further. I think that was a big factor also.”
(On the atmosphere and the crowd in the KFC Yum! Center)
“I love noise and I love crowds; that's my thing and I've always lived for that. I love it when people cheer for the other team. It just fuels you. I love playing at Duke. I love playing here; this was probably one of the most fun games I've had. Just having them cheer against you, especially when you score, and you're like ok and they kind of silence down. Silencing the crowd is probably the greatest feeling in basketball.”
(On what she can improve upon over the next couple of years)
“Oh, there is a lot that I can do. I really need to be working on patience. If I could see where the double team is coming from, it might be just as easy as being single covered. If I could just see where it is coming from, then I can knock out one of the players and turn that into a single covered game. I really need to work on building a jump shot, because standing around the basket doesn't always help. And bring out a defender that is slower than me that can really help. So, working on a jump shot, whether it is a 15 footer or the 3, and I really need to work on my ballhandling and really just defense when I switch off on guards. I really need to just work on staying low, because I feel like in high school I could get away with that because I was so tall and maybe quicker than a lot of the other post players.”
