St. John's University Athletics
Women's Basketball Press Conference Quotes - NCAA First Round
3/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 19, 2010
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
ST. JOHN'S
March 19, 2010
HEAD COACH Kim Barnes Arico:
We're extremely excited to be here and to represent St. John's University as well as the Big East Conference. It's great to be down here in Florida, Florida State has done a terrific job hosting and we're excited to play Princeton tomorrow.
Q: Just curious, how much have you been able to learn about Princeton over the last week? Maybe it's unusual with the relative proximity of the two schools, and you haven't played in something like 30 years. What have you picked up about them and what do they do defensively that has them ranked so high?
A: Well, them being so close to us we've kind of followed them all year long and their success. We read about them in the local paper, as well as us. So I knew that they had a really strong team. I had the opportunity to watch them, I may have watched them a little bit against Rutgers or beyond, but I didn't really get a chance to watch until the brackets were announced. Obviously since that point I've watched probably ten different games and they're a really strong team. They're kind of similar to us in a lot of ways; they're real young, they have a dominant freshman who is really a stud. She has had a great year in that league; they've had some outstanding sophomore kids that can really shoot the basketball. They play well as a team, and they play extremely, extremely hard. I've watched a number of games and a majority of the time they play man to man defense. It will be interesting to see what they do against us, we're different than most teams they have faced. They did play Rutgers and UCLA and against them they played a little bit of zone (defense). So we've prepared and practiced all week for zone as well as for man. They do a tremendous job in transition offense getting the ball up shooting those threes, and finding their freshman. I think we have to block out, rebound and I think it's going to be a really competitive game. Like Shenneika said, hopefully having played the competition that we have all year has prepared us for this point in the year.
Q: This two week break has to drive a coach somewhat mad I would think. Did you scrimmage more, do you scrimmage less, and are you weary of a lot of contact in practice because you don't want to get somebody hurt this time of year? What was your approach to this break?
A: You know, I don't know. I haven't been in this position many times. Hopefully in the future I am with this group that I have for many years to come. You know we try to do some different things, I think it's a longer break than we've ever had. I look back to the beginning of the season when we haven't played in a long time, and the group that we have, they're really excited to play and are really anxious to play, so I know that giving them the time off gets them excited. Sometimes when we have back to back or have to play three games in a week, it doesn't give us a lot of time to rest and a lot of time to prepare. We really liked the rest and we like the preparation, so I think this two week period has given them time to take care of their bodies, time to get back to doing what they need to do in the classroom. They missed a lot of class in the beginning of the first semester, so we've really been focused on that lately. You know I can spin anything to them any way that I need to spin it and they think right now in their minds that they're well rested and they're energized. They're fired up because they haven't played in such a long period of time. They have a little bitter taste in their mouth from the way the Notre Dame game ended in the last four minutes. So they have something to prove, and I think that they're just really excited to get out on the court and get playing. It'll be interesting to see what the first four minutes of the game are like since we both haven't played in a long period of time, but I keep looking back and I hope they do too to our Stony Brook game, which was our first game of the year. We hadn't played in a while and we we're really excited at that point and the kids showed up and they did a good job and they came with a lot of energy and they came with a lot of focus. That's what I'm expecting from them tomorrow.
Q: I know that the season is still going on obviously, but given the way New York and New Jersey have always been a men's basketball hotbed, with what you're doing and what Princeton has done, has recruiting gotten a bit easier the last few months with the success that you're having. Being down here (Florida) I don't notice, but is there more attention on the women's game up there now than maybe there was a couple of years ago?
A: Even a couple of months ago. I tell the kids all the time that if we build it, they will come, just keep doing. I have such great kids that they really don't worry about that and that's the funny thing because in the beginning of the year I would get upset about something and in the locker room I have a freshman, Shenneika was the first to say 'Hey coach, don't worry about it, we don't care that we're not ranked. They'll notice us, let's just keep doing what we're doing and they'll notice us.' That's kind of been our philosophy and we've really stuck by that, but as the season has progressed, our attendance has changed. Our last home game the place was packed and it was the most that Joy has ever played in front of, and that's a great experience for her in her senior year. So, things have changed. Lately we've been on the back cover of the USA Today, we've been in the New York Times, we've been in the (New York) Post, which never happens, we've had a big spread in Newsday and all of our local papers are really starting to jump on board. Hopefully we can continue that momentum in this tournament and then in the future. I think there's a lot of great things happening at St. John's, especially with women's basketball, so I think if we keep rolling and keep being successful, that people will follow.
Q: You knew you were in and then the brackets come out, come out, come out and you're waiting, it's either now or never. What was that 45 minutes or whatever it was like for you guys to sit there and wait, wait, wait?
A: You know, that happened five years ago. We were the seven ten in the last bracket as well and we weren't as sure. We we're pretty sure then because we had finished kind of in the same spot in the league and had done really well. So we thought we we're getting in then as well as now. Every bracket that came up and I'm looking at Da'Shena and she's like 'alright this is it, this is it', then it would pass, and then the next one would come up and then it would pass. We kind of thought we may have a shot at a four or a five, so then every four or five would come up and [sighs]. We knew we were getting in, we just didn't know where and to them, and I really believe that they believed this, it didn't really matter who we were going to play. We were just going to be prepared for that team, we were going to be excited about the opportunity, and were just going to enjoy the moment. That's kind of has been a scary thing for us all year. I want them to enjoy it, I want them to enjoy the experience, but I don't want them to take their eye off of the ultimate goal and that's kind of the fine line that we've been trying to get thru all year. I've had some outstanding seniors in Joy McCorvey and Kelly McManmon that have given their heart and soul to this team and have never been able to reach this point. So at the beginning of the year, our goal was NCAA tournament, NCAA tournament, but as the year progresses, and our team continues to improve, and Da'Shena continues to get better and do the things that she did, even at a better rate than her freshman season, and then you add the outstanding freshman that we have, Shenneika, Nadirah and Eugeneia. Everybody says to me, 'Coach are you surprised?' Yeah, I'm completely surprised, because with freshman you never know. I think they really surprised a lot of people, they've been a lot more consistent, a lot more coachable, they've really bought in to what we want to do, the chemistry has been outstanding and I'm most happy for Joy and Kelly who get to experience this because as much as the freshman, Joy's freshman year I thought we could be there and things don't always turn out like you hope they would. I hope they're able to enjoy this and take it all in.
SENIOR FORWARD Joy McCorvey
Q: What did you envision for this team when the year began? How exciting is it to see the maturity of the freshmen and sophomores, and the younger kids as this year has gone along?
A: As an upperclassman, your number one goal is to reach the NCAA tournament. It started during the summer, during the preseason, working hard, we were getting better. Talking with Coach [Arico], we knew we had a good team. It was just a matter of our work ethic, which has been phenomenal. We have made different changes, with different players. Not only for the freshman and sophomores, but for the upperclassmen as well.
Q: Do you think about what it would be like get a another chance at UConn in three games?
A: Honestly, we do not think about that. We know that UConn is the number one team. They are so far down the line. We are only thinking about Princeton.
Q: Will this be a place for your friends and family to come see you play on this stage?
A: It's about three hours from my house. My mother was coming regardless. But now, my whole family gets to come. They are my family outside of this family. So to have both of my families there when I play, it's going to feel real good.
SOPHOMORE FORWARD Da'Shena Stevens
Q: Can you just talk about the growth from this team from this season from where you were a year ago. How close you were at the end of last season and being able to clear that hurdle and get to this stage.
A: I think Coach Amico brought in some players to help us get over that hurdle that we faced last year. We lost a lot of close games last year. We lost by three, two, and one points. I think to be able to get through those close games this year really gave us the confidence to know that we could beat some of these tough teams, and I think that's what we did this year.
FRESHMAN GUARD Shenneika Smith
Q: I think every team in the tournament kind of has a sense of what it's like to be a football team right now. It seems like you haven't played in forever. How tough is it to stay sharp these last couple of weeks, the long break after you lose in the tournament, the long break to wait to see where you're going, the break to wait to play until tomorrow. How have you guys stayed somewhat sharp during that time?
A: After the tournament was over, we had a few days off. Coach really had us back in the gym. We were working on things to get better, and when we found out who we were playing, we were focused on what we had to do. We know what we have to do, and we're going to try to do that. We have had a long break before. We had a long break during a stretch at the end of the season. We know what we have to do to get our bodies ready, and then to get back in the gym to get ready to play.
Q: The Big East play was very competitive this year. You guys finished in the league tied for fourth, and you played everyone exceptionally strong. At some point and time, there are so many youngsters around you on this team, no intimidation factor for you and your younger teammates?
A: I wouldn't say that we were intimidated. Coming into college, we know that we just have to come in to work every day. As far as intimidation, not really. We just want to go work hard and be able to perform.
Q: Do you feel that the Big East was a good preparation for this step?
A: Definitely. It has been a tough year. We have played in a few tough games. I think that we have better preparation than some other teams in the tournament.
