St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: St. John's 69, Villanova 56
2/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2014
St. John's Head Coach Joe Tartamella
Opening statement:
"Similarly to the last time we played them, I thought we found our way after about five or six minutes and really dug in and started to defend. I think the difference in the game for us was the rebounding piece and the fact that we did not foul in the second half, which kept them off the free throw line and was really key for us. We knew they were going to make threes, we knew they were going to get us on a couple of slips, but we did a good job of limiting them throughout the game. Our level of play in the second half propelled us to this win. We're very happy to be able to come away from today holding our home court in a big and very important game for us in the conference."
On the intensity of the game and preparing for Villanova:
"I think every game we play is important in our league. Our players have done a really good job with their engagement. I really feel a great shift in our culture and in what we are doing as a group. A major difference has been the ability of our team to absorb information. I felt very prepared coming into the game and the players made me confident by the way we practiced. At the same time we understand that this is just another BIG EAST game."
On the Red Storm's defensive performance:
"We talked a lot about our communication. I thought in transition and in the half court we didn't have as many miscommunications and didn't have as many people losing their man. To me that was really important as we tried to improve from our first meeting. I also thought players stepped up when they needed to. We're not going to shut anyone out. We know that. We're not going to completely stop a team that does a great job of getting shots from getting looks, but I thought we did a good job in limiting them. We're going to try to make you do the things you are uncomfortable doing."
On hosting its annual Play4Kay game:
"This is always an important day. One of my assistants, Priscilla Edwards, gave a great talk about who our team was playing for today and the millions of women that are affected by this disease. All of us have probably had someone affected by it in our life. The uniforms are nice, those are the tangible things that you see and that are exciting for our players, but it's important that we teach them what it's about too. It's an important day for everybody and they do a great job across the country of celebrating this movement. We're very happy to be a part of it and to be able to come away with a win today is great."
Junior Forward Amber Thompson
On the intensity of the game:
"Both teams came out really hard and both wanted to get the win. It came down to who played the hardest."
On her improvement over the past two months:
"My teammates are helping me keep my confidence up. They push me and need me as much as I need them. Trying to be a leader to my teammates helps me push myself to rebound and help the team defensively. Even if I'm not holding the ball or scoring, I'm doing my job as long as I'm taking someone else out of the game and helping my teammates score."
Sophomore Guard Aliyyah Handford
On the game plan for today's game:
"They started sagging off of me at one point and I started settling for shots that weren't going in. I started attacking more and from there it gave me open looks."
On the team defending 3-pointers well:
"As Coach (Joe) Pellicane would say, 'Stay in your stance and run them off the line.' That's what we did. We ran them off the line and made them play a game they weren't ready to play."
