St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: St. John's 62, UCF 48
12/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Dec. 11, 2014
Head Coach Joe Tartamella
Opening Statement:
"I'm happy that we had a better second half performance. I thought that we came out a little bit flat. The game was very physical and I don't think we matched their intensity early on. I thought the first four minutes of the second half were an important part of how the game finished. We did a good job getting on the glass and taking care of the ball in the second half. We're obviously happy to come away with the win but we know we have to get ready for a quick turnaround on Sunday."
On junior guard Aliyyah Handford scoring her 1,000th career point:
"In high school or in college, anytime you get to 1,000 points it's obviously a great accomplishment. Aliyyah is obviously a gifted scorer and I'm actually extremely proud of the things she's done on the defensive end. I think she's our best defender. She's improved her jump shot which has helped her score as well. It's a great milestone for her as she becomes a complete player. We're very happy for her obviously and it's a testament to her hard work."
On the Red Storm's second-half defensive performance:
"To be honest, we still allowed them to get to their strengths a little bit. We talked about playing with pride, and one thing in our program which we really stress is on the defensive side. Statistically speaking we are doing the things that we want to do. As the year goes on your team starts to develop its identity, and for us that is starting to come together and come to fruition. I thought our intensity level picked up and we did a better job on [UCF guard Zykira Lewis], who is a nice player for them. I thought their posts were not as effective which was a big part as well. The first four minutes of the second half we managed to speed them up a little bit which helped us get some run outs and score some easy baskets."
On the play of sophomore point guard Aaliyah Lewis:
"I'm in a pretty good place with her right now. She had a tough time last year where she had 10-straight games where she played and then her role changed and she was coming off the bench, which happens to players. She struggled with it early on but by the end of the year was really doing well. Now, she's really taking on the role of being our leader and point of attack both offensively and defensively. Because of the way she defends now she is a tremendous asset to us, and she's shooting the ball well, so you have to guard her. If teams want to leave her, we are excited about her making shots."
Junior guard Aliyyah Handford
On running into first-half foul trouble:
"Sitting out was not really hard. I knew that my teammates would come out and play even if I was not in the game. It was really important for me not to get a foul when I got back in and score at the same time, but my teammates held me down and they did a good job without me."
On her 1,000th career point:
"I wasn't aware that it was coming. It was a surprise and a great feeling. It feels great to be the second-fastest player [in program history] to reach 1,000. I am not going to look at it any other way, I am still going to come out and play the same way."
Sophomore guard Aaliyah Lewis
On turning the game around in the second half:
"In the first half we had our scorers in foul trouble, so one of us had to step up and put some points up on the board. In the second half we had our two scorers back in, so it was up to me to get back to being the point guard and getting my teammates involved."
On the team's competitive spirit:
"That's just us. Everybody is competitive. Even in practice we go at each other and make each other better, so if we are going against another team we are going to go at you too."
