Louisville head coach Jeff Walz: "We did what we needed"

Louisville women’s basketball leaned on another strong fourth quarter to secure a 74-68 win over Colorado on Thursday night. 

Transfers Laura Ziegler and Skylar Jones were standouts in the victory. Jones, a transfer from Arizona, scored 21 points and added four rebounds alongside five steals. Ziegler, who came from Saint Joseph’s, scored 15 points, grabbed six rebounds and added two blocks.

Both players admitted that even as veterans, transferring to Louisville has made them feel like freshmen again. 

“It’s weird. I’m a senior, but I’m getting some of that freshman feeling back because I’m learning a new system,” Ziegler said. “New coach and learning new teammates again. But everybody’s been so supportive…Even the community – there was a little girl who made me a poster. Things like that mean so much.”

Jones echoed that sentiment, adding that head coach Jeff Walz and his staff have pushed her harder than she’s ever been pushed.

“I’ve found out I can go harder than I ever thought I could…,” Jones said. “I might not like it and I might dread it and I might be mad, but I know in the long run it’s going to be worth it. I’m glad that he really does push us really hard and he’s holding us to the Louisville standard.”

Walz was pleased with the win but honest about the areas that still need work.

“We gave up 68 points – that’s not too good,” he said. “If you’re going to have a chance to compete, you’ve got to hold people in the 50s. Unfortunately, we’re not always dialed in….And we were not shooting the three well, but we kept doing it and trying to get them to understand, ‘Hey, they’re leaving you open for a reason.’ How about shot fake and drive? How about getting a paint touch and dump to a post player?”

Still, he praised the toughness his team showed after falling behind by double digits.

“We could’ve rolled over,” Walz said. “We found a way to get it close at half…We did what we needed.”

With Clemson coming soon in an unusually early conference matchup, Walz knows the growth needs to come quick – but he certainly prefers learning through wins.

“I’d rather learn to improve after a win than a loss,” he said.