No. 7 seed Louisville vs. No. 10 seed Villanova
Game 7 – Second Round, March 3, 2012
XL Center – Hartford, Conn.
Louisville Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Jeff Walz
Did you do anything special tonight to slow down Laura Sweeney?
“We worked hard on that the last few days. They love to get her the ball and have her drive so each time she touched the ball on the baseline we decided to double team her. As soon as she picked the ball up we were going to scramble to the furthest guard and we did that three or four times tonight to get the ball out of her hands. She is such a good player. She is tough around the basket, shoots the three ball well and has many moves in the post. She plays with a lot of finesse. She does not have a bunch of strength but she knows how to pivot well. She is a tough match-up for us.”
What is it going to take to beat St. John’s in tomorrow afternoon’s Quarterfinal match-up?
“We are going to have to come out and defend. I have been very impressed with the way St. John’s has been playing at the offensive end of the floor. Their point guard is having a fantastic year and we are going to have to find a way to stay in front of her. They have five or six players that are as good as anyone else in this league so it is not like you can back off one of them. We are going to have to do a great job moving the basketball and not dribble too much.”
Sophomore Guard Shoni Schimmel
Can you please talk about the three point basket you made at the end of the first half and then the run you went on in the second half to take control of the game?
“That shot at the end of the half was a big shot for us because it got our momentum going. It was a dagger for them because they had to come back and play for another half. For us to get that shot was good but for us to go out and continue the run after that shot was even better for us.”
Was your plan tonight to really come out and force the defensive tempo?
“Every game we have to play like it is our last. It is Big East Championship time now. Personally, my goal was to go out there and play great defense but I think our team’s goal was to go out there and defend and rebound. We know that they usually do not rebound so that is what we did.”
Junior Forward Asia Taylor
Could you talk a little bit about the chemistry you have on the court and perhaps off the court that leads to your success during games?
We have great chemistry off the court this year and I know everyone says it but it definitely carries onto the court. Just talking and communicating and having a great friendship off the court definitely carries over.
What will it take to beat St. John’s tomorrow in the Quarterfinals?
“Since (our last game against St. John’s), our defense has improved and we have come together more as a team. We felt that we gave that game away but this time we are going to play great defense. I have confidence that my team and I will come out and play better. As long as we play hard the final score will show it.”
Louisville Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Harry Parretta
Opening Statement:
“I thought we played fairly well for the first half, but you need to be able to carry it over to the second half. I thought we needed to turn it up a notch and we didn’t turn it up. I told the kids after the game that I thought they had a pretty good season and hopefully we get some post-season play but, you know, to play a team that has some really, really good players you need to maintain your mental concentration. [Louisville] will burn you on mistakes [whether] we didn’t switch the screen or we were late getting out on somebody. They made us pay for all of that.”
Coach, how much of a back-breaker was that three-pointer leading into the second half and the run [Louisville] tried to set in motion?
“[Schimmel] made a great shot. I don’t think that was the changing point in the game. I told our kids it was the 20-second stretch in the second half [around] the 18-minute mark when we made a defensive mistake, we gave up a basket, we turned it over, they came down and got the foul, missed the free throw and got the rebound - that was the backbreaker because it went from a two-point game to a seven or eight-point game. That was the stretch. The pace of the game got faster and we [couldn’t] score with them. That was really the turning point of the game.
What do you do in the next week before invitations go out to prepare the team?
“We’re going to give them until Thursday off. We have a lot of kids banged up. Then we’ll come back and practice Thursday, Friday, off Saturday, practice Sunday, off Monday, wait for the bid, then practice Tuesday and Wednesday and hopefully play Thursday. At this point, five kids are banged up. I’m not a big believer in bringing them back. What are you going to do? You have to try to let them get healthy.