St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Providence
St. John’s women’s basketball Head Coach Joe Tartamella and guards Qadashah Hoppie and Alisha Kebbe spoke to the media following the team’s 64-58 victory over Providence on Friday.
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella
Opening statement…
“Great win for us. It’s always an exciting day for Kids Day, but it’s always difficult to prepare sometimes when you have an earlier game. However, I thought we really did a good job today of being locked in on what we needed to do. We had some ups and downs to the game, but we did limit our turnovers. When you can get out against a team like this, where the game was probably exactly where they wanted it to be in the first half at 25 all, we came out and did a really good job pushing through and be able to finish. I thought everybody contributed in a great manner and I'm proud of the way we were able to finish. Certainly, we still need to continue to get better in some areas, but 11 points off turnovers to their two, and then 18-2 in fast break points is kind of how we want to play. I think we were able to get out and wear them out a little more and did a great job of holding on.”
On Alisha Kebbe and Qadashah Hoppie eclipsing 1,000 points…
“For both of them, it’s obviously a special moment. I’ve always said that the numbers are great, and they are better when you win. I know that winning to them is probably more important than the individual accolades but for both of them to be able to do that, it’s fun to see. It’s not easy to do and in most cases, they are players who have been a focal point in games and people have been trying to take things away from them. To have them both in one game, I don’t know if I’ll get that again in my career, but that’s pretty exciting for both of them and certainly it was needed.”
On Field Trip Day…
“It’s great. My sister’s a teacher on Long Island and her school comes every year and they look forward to it every year. I think they get real excited. It’s a great day for them, it’s a great day for our players to feel that energy in the building. It was a special day for them. We don’t take that for granted by any means and I’m glad we could win for them. It’s been a few years since we’ve won this game, so I’m happy we were able to do that for them today.”
On Sunday’s matchup with Creighton…
“Everybody [in the BIG EAST] is so different and we have to go get ready today and tomorrow. Creighton has been playing really well, even though they lost today to Seton Hall. They will probably be focused a little bit more than they were today. [Creighton Head Coach] Jim [Flanery] does a great job and I’ve said that since I started in the profession as a head coach. We always seem to butt heads at the right time. They do a great job, they are playing really well and they have some really good players that are playing at a high level. We’ve got to continue to do the things we talk about every game. Nothing changes from the areas that we need to be better. We have to make sure we don’t have as many lapses through the game in those areas.”
St. John’s guard Qadashah Hoppie
On scoring 1,000 points…
“For me, it’s a great moment. Just the other day, I was a freshman, so to get this accolade is big for me and I just want to keep pushing forward.”
On Field Trip Day…
“I actually love it. Coming in with kids of different ages, they play the music and everybody’s dancing. It gets us to have high energy from the beginning. I love it.”
St. John’s guard Alisha Kebbe
On scoring 1,000 points…
“For me, it’s a great moment. Just the other day, I was a freshman, so to get this accolade is big for me and I just want to keep pushing forward.”
On Field Trip Day…
“I wish they could be here every game. They get us hyped all the time, so it was fun.”
Opening statement…
“Great win for us. It’s always an exciting day for Kids Day, but it’s always difficult to prepare sometimes when you have an earlier game. However, I thought we really did a good job today of being locked in on what we needed to do. We had some ups and downs to the game, but we did limit our turnovers. When you can get out against a team like this, where the game was probably exactly where they wanted it to be in the first half at 25 all, we came out and did a really good job pushing through and be able to finish. I thought everybody contributed in a great manner and I'm proud of the way we were able to finish. Certainly, we still need to continue to get better in some areas, but 11 points off turnovers to their two, and then 18-2 in fast break points is kind of how we want to play. I think we were able to get out and wear them out a little more and did a great job of holding on.”
On Alisha Kebbe and Qadashah Hoppie eclipsing 1,000 points…
“For both of them, it’s obviously a special moment. I’ve always said that the numbers are great, and they are better when you win. I know that winning to them is probably more important than the individual accolades but for both of them to be able to do that, it’s fun to see. It’s not easy to do and in most cases, they are players who have been a focal point in games and people have been trying to take things away from them. To have them both in one game, I don’t know if I’ll get that again in my career, but that’s pretty exciting for both of them and certainly it was needed.”
On Field Trip Day…
“It’s great. My sister’s a teacher on Long Island and her school comes every year and they look forward to it every year. I think they get real excited. It’s a great day for them, it’s a great day for our players to feel that energy in the building. It was a special day for them. We don’t take that for granted by any means and I’m glad we could win for them. It’s been a few years since we’ve won this game, so I’m happy we were able to do that for them today.”
On Sunday’s matchup with Creighton…
“Everybody [in the BIG EAST] is so different and we have to go get ready today and tomorrow. Creighton has been playing really well, even though they lost today to Seton Hall. They will probably be focused a little bit more than they were today. [Creighton Head Coach] Jim [Flanery] does a great job and I’ve said that since I started in the profession as a head coach. We always seem to butt heads at the right time. They do a great job, they are playing really well and they have some really good players that are playing at a high level. We’ve got to continue to do the things we talk about every game. Nothing changes from the areas that we need to be better. We have to make sure we don’t have as many lapses through the game in those areas.”
St. John’s guard Qadashah Hoppie
On scoring 1,000 points…
“For me, it’s a great moment. Just the other day, I was a freshman, so to get this accolade is big for me and I just want to keep pushing forward.”
On Field Trip Day…
“I actually love it. Coming in with kids of different ages, they play the music and everybody’s dancing. It gets us to have high energy from the beginning. I love it.”
St. John’s guard Alisha Kebbe
On scoring 1,000 points…
“For me, it’s a great moment. Just the other day, I was a freshman, so to get this accolade is big for me and I just want to keep pushing forward.”
On Field Trip Day…
“I wish they could be here every game. They get us hyped all the time, so it was fun.”