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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 2, 2018

Greensboro, North Carolina

Louisville 73 and Virginia Tech 70

AMY YAKOLA: Coach, when you're ready, an opening statement and then we'll take questions.

JEFF WALZ: We'd first just like to congratulate Virginia Tech. What a great basketball game.

You know, watching them yesterday, I was just really, really impressed with how well they are playing right now. You know, they have some changes within their roster and I think it took the kids a little bit of time to get adjusted to new roles but I really believe they should be an NCAA Tournament team. They are playing extremely well right now and I don't think anybody would like to have to face them.

So I hope that on Selection Monday that we see their name come up representing the ACC because there is no doubt that they would make some noise and Coach Brooks does a very, very good job with his X's and O's and really gets the most out of them.

So I'm hoping to see them as one of our ACC representatives on Selection Monday.

Q. Coach, you got a real big game out of the two sitting up there with you right now. Talk about the play of the forwards.
JEFF WALZ: Yeah, you're post play was really good. We had 40 points in the paint tonight. We're still working on trying to get more back to the basket at times post moves, but I thought those two came up big, came up big at big times for us.

You know, the one-set play, Sam had a really nice reverse layup to extend the lead to a three-point lead, as Virginia Tech had cut it down. I thought Myisha when she was in the game was very effective. Unfortunately, I've talked to our guards a little bit in the locker room thereafter the game. Our guards are letting people drive by them, and then our post have to try to step in and cover up for them. Two or three of the fouls or our post players came because guards got beat.

So I'm challenging our guards to do a better job of head eye on ball and not letting players get by them. It was a great performance. Myisha, 4-for-5 from the free throw line; Sam, 5-for-5. It's exactly what we have to have.

Q. You're down at halftime, what defensive adjustments did you make coming out at halftime?
JEFF WALZ: Well, we played a little more zone in the second half, and then we really just talked to them. We have to know personnel. We didn't do a very good job in the first half. We crowded players that were drivers and not shooters. We left shooters open, and played them as a driver.

Sheppard, I thought she was fantastic in that first half, four for four from the three point line, really had things going and then we did a really nice job of frustrating her I thought in limiting her in space when she did catch the ball, which we thought was important.

Thought Camp played well for them in the second half, Magarity came up and played well; and of course Emery, she's so explosive, she can get her shot off pretty much whenever she wants. But we did a much better job of trying to keep her in front us, not falling for a shot fake because as soon as you jump, she does a great job of stepping through. And she's got the balance to be able to finish that little one-foot runner as she steps past you.

Q. You had 16 in the second half and today when Durr was struggling, what worked for you in the second half when you guys maybe needed a little bit of of a jolt?
MYISHA HINES-ALLEN: Just moving the ball and find are our open shots. It wasn't just me. A lot of people stepped up in game when Asia was struggling from the field, and that's what makes us such a great team because anyone can step up. It's anyone's game when we're playing how we normally play.

Q. Sam, when you saw Myisha go to the bench, did you feel any extra pressure to pick it up? You had a great game tonight. What was going through your mind when you saw her get that fourth one?
SAM FUEHRING: Of course I don't want to see Myisha go to the bench, but I know our reserves will help us continue the tempo and continue to play hard, and when she comes back in, she's fresh and ready to get at it again.

Q. What are you thinking when you're down at halftime? How worried or not are you at that point?
MYISHA HINES-ALLEN: We knew they were going to give us their best shot. They are going to play hard for 40 minutes and we weren't too caught up in the score. We knew what we had to do to adjust so we can win the game. But I mean, we knew from the beginning, they were going it play 40 minutes. They were going to give us their best punch, and that's what they did.

Q. Looks like your three-point career has been resurrected there. That was a huge shot. Was it Spur of the moment or did you have the look and just take it?
MYISHA HINES-ALLEN: To be honest, she was just way too off. So I had confidence, I was shooting the ball well and I just shot it with confidence and when I shoot with confidence, most likely it's going to go in when I don't hesitate.

JEFF WALZ: We all said a prayer on the bench. (Laughter).

MYISHA HINES-ALLEN: God answered the prayer.

JEFF WALZ: Sure did.

Q. Asia didn't shoot the ball that well today. But you took her out from almost the end of the fourth quarter and you brought them back in and she hit the shot. Was that planned or you just knew she could do?
JEFF WALZ: It was one of those things where she was struggling today. You know, everybody has the right to have a ballgame that's not at the top of their expectations.

But you know, I was trying to give her about a minute or minute and a half break, just to get her some time to relax and just kind of gather herself. The group that was out there extended the lead. You know, started playing really well and extended that lead. So there was no reason to throw her back in there.

And then as it got down towards the end, I put her back in and she came off a nice little ball screen. I think Myisha set her, Sam hit that little pull-up jump shot in the lane that she can make.

Q. Virginia Tech had maybe one of their best three-point shooting nights of the year against y'all. In the second half you did slow them down a little bit. Was there any particular strategy you talked about at halftime on their threes?
JEFF WALZ: No, we just located shooters. Our goal was to make sure we knew where their shooters were and we didn't do that very well. Even the one I think we were up six or seven and we're supposed to be switching off screens and we're letting Emery come off and knock down that one three with about 20 seconds left that it's inexcusable.

Those are things we have to get better at. We keep talking to them, it's March, it's one play. One play can end your season and you have to make sure you're making people score when at least you're defending them with a hand up. But I thought, you know, she had made some really tough shots in the first half, but that one was one that we absolutely had a complete break down and she knocks it in.

Q. Not many teams would have two players who have been an ACC Player of the Year on their roster. How much of a comfort blanket is that, especially when one of your players is struggling, the other one is there that can pick up?
JEFF WALZ: No, it's a credit to them. Myisha came in here as a freshman and really has continued to grow and work. Her maturity off the floor is just as impressive as her maturity on the floor. It all comes down to hard work.

Asia is a kid that works hard every single day. She's the first one in, the last one out. And they are both very humble. You know, they credit their teammates. They know that -- I say it all the time. We are not good enough to just step up on the floor and beat people. We have to play a team game. We've got to get the ball to the shooters. We've got to make the next pass. And I thought we're doing that.

Even tonight, I thought Jess Laemmle, I put her in at the end of the first half, and first off, I thought she was going to vomit. You know, she was like looking around and I'm like, Jess -- she's like, "Is he talking to me?"

I'm like, "Yeah, that's you, babe." She went out there and we were down nine at the time, and we go into half down six, but we had a chance to tie it up there on a three-point shot with about 30 seconds left in the half. She brought us some energy. That's something, you know, you've got to be prepared to do. You never know when your number is going to be called and I was really proud of what she did. She comes up with an offensive board that extended a play for us and then Kylee Shook comes in and hits a huge three in the second half that kind of got us a little lift.

So you know, you're going to have to have bench play, and that's something that we have had all year. I thought Dana came out and did some good things for us. She had two assists and no turnovers. For freshmen, it's a big adjustment as you're sitting out there and you're now getting used to March play.

Q. For anyone, you're only up by one point with six minutes to go. What did you like about how you executed down the stretch there?
SAM FUEHRING: We knew how important it was to execute and follow scout and listen to the coaches. I feel like the coaches got us to a lead.

JEFF WALZ: Thanks, Sam.

SAM FUEHRING: Yeah, you're welcome. Yeah, everything is important towards the end of the game. Well, the whole game, but especially towards the end.

MYISHA HINES-ALLEN: Just piggyback off what Sam just said, it's just executing. We know our plays and it's the little thing that matter. Are we going to set up the cut, are we going to screen, are we going to -- it's like the little things, and I think towards the end, that's when we started focusing more and listening to the coaches, too.

AMY YAKOLA: Thank you very much. See you tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 2, 2018

Jeff Walz

Sam Fuehring

Myisha Hines-Allen