St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Notre Dame 71, St. John's 56
1/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2012
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Head Coach Kim Barnes Arico
Opening Statement:
"I feel like we just played the best team in the country. Notre Dame has a lot of weapons, they're well coached and they're really a great team. We were extremely tight in the first half, and I'm not sure why, we're not normally like that. Once we settled down, we started to play more like we're capable of playing. I'm sure some of it was due to Notre Dame's pressure and their reputation. They forced us to turn the basketball over a ton and they scored on our turnovers. They just did a tremendous job of going to their strengths. We battled back in the second half and made it a bit of a game."
On halftime adjustments:
"We're a pretty good half-court defensive team and we've really been able to show that all year. They exposed us tremendously in the first half on defensive transition. A lot of their baskets were scored off of our mistakes, more than the setup of our defense. When we had the opportunity to play half-court defense, we did a really good job against them and for the first few minutes of the second half, we were able to set up our defense. Defensively, we do a good job of matching up with people, but once we turned the ball over or they got in transition, we could not stop them."
On being in position to make a surge heading into March:
"You never want to get too comfortable, because in our league, anything can happen on any given night. I like where our team is right now. I like how we've played against Rutgers and Louisville and on the road against Cincinnati and Syracuse--those are really tough wins on the road--and then to come back here and not quit. We could have quit at halftime, come out and it could have gotten ugly, but we bounced back, we fought, and we showed that they really are a good basketball team. We're getting there, I try not to look back to much because I don't want to say what-if or what-was or what could have been, but we do have a strong nucleus, and now that they're back together, no one is really blowing us out of the gym. The first half today was probably the largest margin that we've had, but we've hung with everybody, and now we've played the No. 1 and No. 2 team in the country and the No. 7 and No. 12 teams. That says a lot about our team, and we're going to continue to get better."
Junior Guard Nadirah McKenith
On making adjustments in the second half:
"In the beginning of the game we were kind of nervous. I don't know why, we normally don't play like that. In the second half, we talked about it, and we went out there and played basketball like we know how. We pressured them a little bit and we just went out there and fought."
On her halftime speech:
"Coach always has our back so we've got to go out there and fight and have her back as well. At halftime, she was fired up, so that motivated me, so before the second half started I got the team together and I was like `We need to have energy, no matter what the score is, and just go out there and play basketball.'"
On what makes Notre Dame so tough:
"Notre Dame has a lot of weapons, they have a great point guard, they have a great post player, they have a lot of outside shooters and they're just a great team."
On being pressed by a post player:
"It wasn't difficult at all. In the first half [Devereaux Peters] picked me and that's never happened to me by a post player, so coach told me I had to be more aggressive. I was kind of embarrassed that she stole the ball from me like that, so in the second half I was more aggressive as a passer, trying to pass it to the open player."
Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw
Opening Statement:
"I thought we did pretty well in the first-half. I thought that the game started off a little slow for us and we weren't playing at our pace, I thought we were playing their pace. When we started rebounding and running, I thought we looked more like ourselves. I was really pleased with our first-half efforts. In the second-half, we came out and just couldn't get in our groove. It was a little disappointing. Our shot selection was poor and we weren't able to make the shots that they gave us. I think St. John's is a great and really talented team. They made us play ugly today."
On what went wrong in the second-half:
"It was our shot selection and turnovers. We didn't take care of the ball. We made some uncharacteristically bad decisions with the ball. We are a much smarter team than that and we didn't look like it today."
On focusing on today's game:
"I think this team has been really good at focusing on each and every game and how important this game was for us. For three-straight trips we haven't been able to come up with a win. No one on our team has won in Carnesecca Arena before. So this was an important game for us to come out and take care of business that we haven't been able to do in the past. I think this team is very focused on taking on a challenge no matter who we are playing."
Notre Dame Junior Guard Skylar Diggins
On where the team is today and expectations for the season:
"I think we're on track on where we thought we'd be. There are a lot of things we can get better on and we work on that in practice. This is a team who has a mindset of getting better everyday and we challenge each other in practice to do so. We have a lot of work to do. This team isn't complacent. Coach keeps us on our toes. I think we're on track, I still don't think we've played our best basketball yet."
Notre Dame Redshirt Senior Forward Devereaux Peters
On difference of her play the last few games:
"I think the biggest difference is that I've been in the game and not fouling as much. When you're in the game you have more opportunities to score and rebound and do everything that the coaches ask me to do."
