St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: St. John's vs. No. 8/7 Marquette
Johnnies record first win over top-10 opponent since 2012
Head Coach Joe Tartamella
Opening Statement…
“I couldn’t be happier with our performance. This is, in my head coaching career, one of the biggest wins we’ve had at Carnesecca Arena. As I told our team in the locker room, as far as playing a top-10 team, being able to compete the way we did. I could not be more proud of them.”
On the team’s second half performance…
“I really challenged them at the half to be able to compete at a higher level and I thought we did that. To be down eight, and then to be able to get it back to even at the end of the third. Then to finish the way that we did with the confidence that we played with and the way that we played for each other in that second half was fun. That’s what we told them to do today, have fun out there and that’s what they did.”
On the contributions from the bench…
“Our bench had 14 points tonight and that’s probably one of the highest outputs we’ve had. I can’t put into words the type of kid that Jasmine [Sina] is. She’s one of the most selfless kids I’ve ever coached in my life. She is literally about the team, first and foremost. She’s going to be a successful kid. So I’m pleased with her effort, and I’ll always be pleased, even though she’s been with us for just a year. I’m proud of her.”
On what this win means for the program…
“It’s obviously huge. I think, in a way, we need to understand that. They are the No. 8 team in the country, they’re undefeated in the BIG EAST and they are betting people by 40. For us to be able to compete at that level here, is great."
On the atmosphere inside Carnesecca Arena…
“I was really pleased with the noise level that we had. I thought we had a pretty good turnout. Carnesecca, for me in the 15 years I’ve been here, is a great atmosphere to be able to play in, men’s or women’s. I thought the crowd was great. I thought they gave us good energy, you can feed off that and feel it.”
Redshirt Sophomore Guard Tiana England
On learning from the team’s early season losses…
“I feel like the difference today between some of our closer games earlier in the season, we were locked in. We got down, but we didn’t stay down today. We made it our mission to come back and play together as a team.”
On the team’s confidence level after beating Marquette…
“I feel like we can play with anyone. We matched up great tonight. Marquette is obviously a strong team, but so are we. Earlier, in the beginning of conference play, we got a few losses but we were able to bounce back today.”
Junior Guard Alisha Kebbe
On the team’s ability to compete…
“I think we already knew that. We played really well against UConn so this was another challenge for us, but to actually come out with the win was really exciting.”
Opening Statement…
“I couldn’t be happier with our performance. This is, in my head coaching career, one of the biggest wins we’ve had at Carnesecca Arena. As I told our team in the locker room, as far as playing a top-10 team, being able to compete the way we did. I could not be more proud of them.”
On the team’s second half performance…
“I really challenged them at the half to be able to compete at a higher level and I thought we did that. To be down eight, and then to be able to get it back to even at the end of the third. Then to finish the way that we did with the confidence that we played with and the way that we played for each other in that second half was fun. That’s what we told them to do today, have fun out there and that’s what they did.”
On the contributions from the bench…
“Our bench had 14 points tonight and that’s probably one of the highest outputs we’ve had. I can’t put into words the type of kid that Jasmine [Sina] is. She’s one of the most selfless kids I’ve ever coached in my life. She is literally about the team, first and foremost. She’s going to be a successful kid. So I’m pleased with her effort, and I’ll always be pleased, even though she’s been with us for just a year. I’m proud of her.”
On what this win means for the program…
“It’s obviously huge. I think, in a way, we need to understand that. They are the No. 8 team in the country, they’re undefeated in the BIG EAST and they are betting people by 40. For us to be able to compete at that level here, is great."
On the atmosphere inside Carnesecca Arena…
“I was really pleased with the noise level that we had. I thought we had a pretty good turnout. Carnesecca, for me in the 15 years I’ve been here, is a great atmosphere to be able to play in, men’s or women’s. I thought the crowd was great. I thought they gave us good energy, you can feed off that and feel it.”
Redshirt Sophomore Guard Tiana England
On learning from the team’s early season losses…
“I feel like the difference today between some of our closer games earlier in the season, we were locked in. We got down, but we didn’t stay down today. We made it our mission to come back and play together as a team.”
On the team’s confidence level after beating Marquette…
“I feel like we can play with anyone. We matched up great tonight. Marquette is obviously a strong team, but so are we. Earlier, in the beginning of conference play, we got a few losses but we were able to bounce back today.”
Junior Guard Alisha Kebbe
On the team’s ability to compete…
“I think we already knew that. We played really well against UConn so this was another challenge for us, but to actually come out with the win was really exciting.”