St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: WBIT First Round at Florida
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella, guard Unique Drake and forward Jillian Archer spoke with the media following the Red Storm’s 79-60 win over Florida in the WBIT First Round on Thursday at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, Fla.
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella
Opening Statement…
“Well, its just incredible. We have probably played three games in about a month. We played our last game of the year, sat for 11 days, played one game in the [BIG EAST] Tournament, sat for another seven or eight. So to see what they have done every day in practice, to show up with the same intensity level that you saw tonight, yeah, I can’t put that into words. Just really happy for them and what a great performance by our players. More to come, but really pleased with our effort tonight.”
On the importance of playing in the WBIT…
“I think, first and foremost, I never take for granted, and I’ve been doing this long enough, the value of meaningful games in March. Whatever tournament that may be. There are younger players out there that have a chance to be in those moments. Even if they are not playing, they get to feel it. For our seniors, we had a pretty good discussion about playing, because if we didn’t, they had played their last game. The point of it is all is to have fun. You have to win, but watching the joy they had today, together, those are the minutes as a coach you really enjoy. And you are watching your team, in that moment, beginning to grow and continue to build. I think it’s really important. These are games, to me, that are important to our players, our players’ families, the university, our league. Whoever we are playing, we are representing our league, and I never take it for granted. Whether it’s the NCAA Tournament, whether it’s the NIT or now in the BIT. I think there is always value with the group that you know. This team, they wanted to play. Shorthanded, just an incredible job they did.”
On the team’s offensive performance…
“For us, having 15 assists and six turnovers, I would take that any night. Whether we are playing Florida or anyone really. Our goal was to force them to guard more than one player and one action. The way we played tonight, the way we moved the ball, that’s what we are capable of. We haven't shown that at times this year. When you look at what Unique [Drake] was doing, it was a pretty simple process of figuring out who to get the ball to. Not only her, but I thought Jillian [Archer] paced us early, Unique paced us early. Ber’Nyah Mayo made a move tonight that was incredible to the other side of the rim, twice. They were all locked in. I think being locked in, being able to be unselfish, and I think some of our players learned something about time and score and what they need to do. I was really pleased offensively. We scored 44 in the first half, we haven't scored 44 in a game at points. I was very pleased with how we were playing offensively, but we made shots, that’s the difference.”
St. John’s guard Unique Drake
On her performance tonight:
“To start a game, I just try to do everything that my team needs me to do, whether that’s score or play defense. I just try to do everything my team needs me to do. I really don’t focus much on just shooting the ball, I just do what's the best for my team. The basket was kind of big tonight, so they were going in.”
On the game being win or go home.
“It is a win-or-go-home situation, but at the end of the day, we just want to play for each other. We enjoy playing for St. John’s and the BIG EAST. Just having the fight in us to keep playing and keep playing hard drove us.”
St. John’s forward Jillian Archer
On if there was a larger sense of urgency because it was win or go home…
“It was definitely something we talked about, leaving it all on the floor. One of the biggest things we wanted to emphasize going into this game was to have fun. I think that so many times, especially in March, we get kind of lost in the win-or-go-home mentality. We just wanted to go out there, have fun and play on.”
Opening Statement…
“Well, its just incredible. We have probably played three games in about a month. We played our last game of the year, sat for 11 days, played one game in the [BIG EAST] Tournament, sat for another seven or eight. So to see what they have done every day in practice, to show up with the same intensity level that you saw tonight, yeah, I can’t put that into words. Just really happy for them and what a great performance by our players. More to come, but really pleased with our effort tonight.”
On the importance of playing in the WBIT…
“I think, first and foremost, I never take for granted, and I’ve been doing this long enough, the value of meaningful games in March. Whatever tournament that may be. There are younger players out there that have a chance to be in those moments. Even if they are not playing, they get to feel it. For our seniors, we had a pretty good discussion about playing, because if we didn’t, they had played their last game. The point of it is all is to have fun. You have to win, but watching the joy they had today, together, those are the minutes as a coach you really enjoy. And you are watching your team, in that moment, beginning to grow and continue to build. I think it’s really important. These are games, to me, that are important to our players, our players’ families, the university, our league. Whoever we are playing, we are representing our league, and I never take it for granted. Whether it’s the NCAA Tournament, whether it’s the NIT or now in the BIT. I think there is always value with the group that you know. This team, they wanted to play. Shorthanded, just an incredible job they did.”
On the team’s offensive performance…
“For us, having 15 assists and six turnovers, I would take that any night. Whether we are playing Florida or anyone really. Our goal was to force them to guard more than one player and one action. The way we played tonight, the way we moved the ball, that’s what we are capable of. We haven't shown that at times this year. When you look at what Unique [Drake] was doing, it was a pretty simple process of figuring out who to get the ball to. Not only her, but I thought Jillian [Archer] paced us early, Unique paced us early. Ber’Nyah Mayo made a move tonight that was incredible to the other side of the rim, twice. They were all locked in. I think being locked in, being able to be unselfish, and I think some of our players learned something about time and score and what they need to do. I was really pleased offensively. We scored 44 in the first half, we haven't scored 44 in a game at points. I was very pleased with how we were playing offensively, but we made shots, that’s the difference.”
St. John’s guard Unique Drake
On her performance tonight:
“To start a game, I just try to do everything that my team needs me to do, whether that’s score or play defense. I just try to do everything my team needs me to do. I really don’t focus much on just shooting the ball, I just do what's the best for my team. The basket was kind of big tonight, so they were going in.”
On the game being win or go home.
“It is a win-or-go-home situation, but at the end of the day, we just want to play for each other. We enjoy playing for St. John’s and the BIG EAST. Just having the fight in us to keep playing and keep playing hard drove us.”
St. John’s forward Jillian Archer
On if there was a larger sense of urgency because it was win or go home…
“It was definitely something we talked about, leaving it all on the floor. One of the biggest things we wanted to emphasize going into this game was to have fun. I think that so many times, especially in March, we get kind of lost in the win-or-go-home mentality. We just wanted to go out there, have fun and play on.”