St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John's vs. No. 13/14 Creighton
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella, redshirt senior guard Kadaja Bailey and redshirt senior guard Jayla Everett spoke to the media after a 66-62 win over No. 13/14 Creighton
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella
Opening statement…
“What a game. I’m really proud of our players and their ability to compete, especially today against a team that I think is really good. Creighton is very good. To do what we did this week with the [quick] turnaround, I thought it was really a show of toughness and competitiveness. It allows you to win games like this even though they were putting it on us there at the end, but we didn’t back down. These guys [Jayla Everett and Kadaja Bailey] stepped up and made big plays time after time. I’m really pleased with how we played and finished. We set the tone in the first half which gave us an ability to have some slippage, which we knew was going to come. They’re too good to be able to stop for 40 minutes. It’s a great win for these guys, and I’m happy for them.”
On Rayven Peeples’ improvement…
“Rayven’s always had a lot of ability, and that’s what we saw in her when we were recruiting her. She’s transformed her body, and she looks quicker. She’s playing much more locked in, and she’s been an unsung hero for us. She had nine points and 11 rebounds today. She rebounded the ball, and she had to guard [Emma] Ronsiek, who is a really terrific player. Rayven has been dynamite. She’s quietly having a terrific year on both ends. She’s making winning plays day in and day out. We hope she’ll continue that.”
On establishing consistency…
“The energy level we had in the first half was off the charts. We got slow, and I don’t think I did enough to get us moving offensively. We got stagnant, and we were walking around like we were in a trance. We did make some shots and made some plays, but that’s why I called timeout. The fun part is watching them finish, and they finished today.”
On the defense…
“It was more about our ability to guard correctly, contest and to make it hard for them. If that meant we got a steal, great. Deflections are a big part of what we talk about in every game and in practice. The activity level that we had was a dictated by how many deflections we had. I thought the block part of our defense was more about attitude. I thought we did a good job of keeping them off the line. They had five free throws. It’s hard to do that with the way they play; they’re just so efficient. The steals came at the right time.
Graduate guard Kadaja Bailey
On what the team focused on coming into the game…
“We focused on playing defense. We all knew that defense is what gets us going. We focused on staying locked in on defense..“
On her mindset when she had the ball in pivotal moments in the game…
“My teammates trusted me that I could make a basket and keep us ahead. My teammates and my coaching staff really trusted me.”
Graduate guard Jayla Everett
On how it feels to knock off the number 13 team in the country …
“Really good. It was something that we really needed to show us what we can be moving forward. It feels really good honestly.”
On how the Red Storm defense played today ...
“We knew that communication and staying active was something that we had to take away from them to keep us in it.”
Opening statement…
“What a game. I’m really proud of our players and their ability to compete, especially today against a team that I think is really good. Creighton is very good. To do what we did this week with the [quick] turnaround, I thought it was really a show of toughness and competitiveness. It allows you to win games like this even though they were putting it on us there at the end, but we didn’t back down. These guys [Jayla Everett and Kadaja Bailey] stepped up and made big plays time after time. I’m really pleased with how we played and finished. We set the tone in the first half which gave us an ability to have some slippage, which we knew was going to come. They’re too good to be able to stop for 40 minutes. It’s a great win for these guys, and I’m happy for them.”
On Rayven Peeples’ improvement…
“Rayven’s always had a lot of ability, and that’s what we saw in her when we were recruiting her. She’s transformed her body, and she looks quicker. She’s playing much more locked in, and she’s been an unsung hero for us. She had nine points and 11 rebounds today. She rebounded the ball, and she had to guard [Emma] Ronsiek, who is a really terrific player. Rayven has been dynamite. She’s quietly having a terrific year on both ends. She’s making winning plays day in and day out. We hope she’ll continue that.”
On establishing consistency…
“The energy level we had in the first half was off the charts. We got slow, and I don’t think I did enough to get us moving offensively. We got stagnant, and we were walking around like we were in a trance. We did make some shots and made some plays, but that’s why I called timeout. The fun part is watching them finish, and they finished today.”
On the defense…
“It was more about our ability to guard correctly, contest and to make it hard for them. If that meant we got a steal, great. Deflections are a big part of what we talk about in every game and in practice. The activity level that we had was a dictated by how many deflections we had. I thought the block part of our defense was more about attitude. I thought we did a good job of keeping them off the line. They had five free throws. It’s hard to do that with the way they play; they’re just so efficient. The steals came at the right time.
Graduate guard Kadaja Bailey
On what the team focused on coming into the game…
“We focused on playing defense. We all knew that defense is what gets us going. We focused on staying locked in on defense..“
On her mindset when she had the ball in pivotal moments in the game…
“My teammates trusted me that I could make a basket and keep us ahead. My teammates and my coaching staff really trusted me.”
Graduate guard Jayla Everett
On how it feels to knock off the number 13 team in the country …
“Really good. It was something that we really needed to show us what we can be moving forward. It feels really good honestly.”
On how the Red Storm defense played today ...
“We knew that communication and staying active was something that we had to take away from them to keep us in it.”