St. John's University Athletics
Pre Tournament Quotes
3/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 17, 2012
Head Coach Kim Barnes Arico
Opening Statement
We are excited to be here. For all of us, it's out first time in Norman, Oklahoma. We're thrilled to be the third seed playing in this region. It a great opportunity being in the NCAA tournament for the third straight year and our kids are excited and ready to go.
On Creighton's strengths
I know they're a really disciplined team and they shoot the ball extremely well. They have two big time scorers in Sarah Nelson and Carli Tritz. They're very crafty, they're smart, and they know how to play. They spread the floor, they run a lot of flare screens and a lot of slips. They're a really solid, solid basketball team and they play extremely hard.
On her game plan versus Creighton
We really need to be able to defend them, jump to the ball, and stop their motion, their slips, and their cuts. We really need to give them an enormous amount of pressure, especially on the ball. The game plan for a lot of teams nowadays is to take Nadirah McKenith out of the game. They face guard and they'll pick her up from 94 feet. So we need to handle their pressure and not turn the basketball over for points going the other direction.
Senior Forward Da'Shena Stevens
On the first round matchup against Creighton
We're really excited to come out and play. They're a really good team and we're looking forward to coming out and playing our game and playing how we are capable of playing.
On returning to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year
We've learned that the tournament is a new season. The regular season is over and it's the post season now. Any game you can lose and any game can be your last game so you just have to leave it all out on the floor. With every experience we've gotten better and we're ready for anything.
Junior Guard Shenneika Smith
On the first round matchup against Creighton
We're excited to be here and to come out and play a team we've never faced before. It's going to be exciting and we're going to play hard like we've been doing the whole season.
On President Obama predicting St. John's to reach the Final Four
That was great. It was a great feeling to be recognized by the Head of State. We're going to try to make his bracket up to par and just go out and play hard. No extra pressure.
Junior Guard Nadirah McKenith
On the first round matchup against Creighton
Creighton is a great team so we're excited to come out here and play hard.
On what is needed to take the next step to the Sweet 16
We just have to come out here and play hard and play St. John's basketball. We have to use our strengths and advantages against other teams. We just have to execute our game plan, play hard, and play with each other.
