St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: No. 8 St. John’s Women’s Basketball vs. No. 1 UConn
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella spoke to the media after St. John’s 71-40 loss to UConn in the 2025 BIG EAST Quarterfinal
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella
Opening statement…
“I thought we competed at a good level today…. I was pleased how we went into the half, outside of maybe the foul toward the end. Then [UConn] started the third well, and we fought back again. Look, we made them have to play. They had to play to win today, and they did. I know we lost by whatever it was, 31, but we competed at a level that I was happy with. We've struggled offensively all year at times. It's not a secret. I thought we gave away a lot of opportunities that we had in terms of at least trying to cut into the lead a little bit, but I thought we battled. These kids have been on the short end of a lot of games this year, but they've never stopped competing. So I’m proud of them.”
On Ber’Nyah Mayo and Lashae Dwyer…
“Ber'Nyah has been great. I know she probably would have liked to have been a little better today. But for a kid to come from the A-10 where she was in high-leverage games on tournament teams and had to battle through some adversity this year with some injury stuff in the summer, she's got just a really, really good demeanor. I fought with her to be more vocal, but it's just trying to pull something out of her that I think she's gotten better at. Really just a solid and a great kid. She's been a good leader for us all year. Lashae, coming from Miami in terms of giving her a little bit of a different role - she's been a lot for us. Obviously, you've got to play pretty well to be [BIG EAST] Defensive Player of the Year, and people have to respect what you do. Both have great personalities. Lashae makes me laugh, and so does Ber'Nyah. But they come to work and they want to compete. We'll miss them for sure.”
On the potential of playing in a postseason tournament…
“I think obviously we started really well. I thought we did a great job. Our net has been in a really good place, if that's one of the metrics we look at. I think if you look at how we've played. I think we've played everybody outside of the game at Connecticut, even our game at home against Connecticut was similar to this one in terms of at least making them battle. But I think we've played everybody extremely competitive within our league. That's for other people to decide. I told our team in the locker room, we don't know. We're going to prepare as if we are. That's how I look at it. I think when you look around the country, we'll see how we stack up, but obviously, the metrics are there right now for us to be in the conversation.”
On the BIG EAST getting back to level it was at when he first started coaching…
“Well, I mean, I think there's a bunch of things probably. You have to have players. We've always been built on great players, and we've had great coaches, and we still do. The landscape is ever-changing in terms of revenue sharing and where that goes. I think we've got to have the ability to stay up with the arms race in terms of what people are doing around the country. Look, our league has always been underrated especially in the realignment. The old BIG EAST didn't have to say anything or fight for anything because we were probably the best. But I think now it's changed in terms of we've got to be able to not only recruit great players -- or as people will say now, find great players out there, whether they're with us now or they're in the portal and with NIL and the revenue share. And we've got to be able to keep them. I think we've probably been hurt a little bit by some great players that have left the conference, but I also think it's a great opportunity. As I said yesterday, you're playing against the No. 3 team or No. 4 team in the country as a perennial power every year. Sometimes the No. 1 team. We've got to get players. We've got to be able to do that. We've got to be able to win, and we've got to schedule teams that will play us in the nonconference. As coaches, we have a balance there that we have to figure out. I think there's still a little uncertainty in terms of where it's all going, but I think the scheduling part, being able to play against top teams every year is different. Next year we might not have this conversation. We might be right there.”
Opening statement…
“I thought we competed at a good level today…. I was pleased how we went into the half, outside of maybe the foul toward the end. Then [UConn] started the third well, and we fought back again. Look, we made them have to play. They had to play to win today, and they did. I know we lost by whatever it was, 31, but we competed at a level that I was happy with. We've struggled offensively all year at times. It's not a secret. I thought we gave away a lot of opportunities that we had in terms of at least trying to cut into the lead a little bit, but I thought we battled. These kids have been on the short end of a lot of games this year, but they've never stopped competing. So I’m proud of them.”
On Ber’Nyah Mayo and Lashae Dwyer…
“Ber'Nyah has been great. I know she probably would have liked to have been a little better today. But for a kid to come from the A-10 where she was in high-leverage games on tournament teams and had to battle through some adversity this year with some injury stuff in the summer, she's got just a really, really good demeanor. I fought with her to be more vocal, but it's just trying to pull something out of her that I think she's gotten better at. Really just a solid and a great kid. She's been a good leader for us all year. Lashae, coming from Miami in terms of giving her a little bit of a different role - she's been a lot for us. Obviously, you've got to play pretty well to be [BIG EAST] Defensive Player of the Year, and people have to respect what you do. Both have great personalities. Lashae makes me laugh, and so does Ber'Nyah. But they come to work and they want to compete. We'll miss them for sure.”
On the potential of playing in a postseason tournament…
“I think obviously we started really well. I thought we did a great job. Our net has been in a really good place, if that's one of the metrics we look at. I think if you look at how we've played. I think we've played everybody outside of the game at Connecticut, even our game at home against Connecticut was similar to this one in terms of at least making them battle. But I think we've played everybody extremely competitive within our league. That's for other people to decide. I told our team in the locker room, we don't know. We're going to prepare as if we are. That's how I look at it. I think when you look around the country, we'll see how we stack up, but obviously, the metrics are there right now for us to be in the conversation.”
On the BIG EAST getting back to level it was at when he first started coaching…
“Well, I mean, I think there's a bunch of things probably. You have to have players. We've always been built on great players, and we've had great coaches, and we still do. The landscape is ever-changing in terms of revenue sharing and where that goes. I think we've got to have the ability to stay up with the arms race in terms of what people are doing around the country. Look, our league has always been underrated especially in the realignment. The old BIG EAST didn't have to say anything or fight for anything because we were probably the best. But I think now it's changed in terms of we've got to be able to not only recruit great players -- or as people will say now, find great players out there, whether they're with us now or they're in the portal and with NIL and the revenue share. And we've got to be able to keep them. I think we've probably been hurt a little bit by some great players that have left the conference, but I also think it's a great opportunity. As I said yesterday, you're playing against the No. 3 team or No. 4 team in the country as a perennial power every year. Sometimes the No. 1 team. We've got to get players. We've got to be able to do that. We've got to be able to win, and we've got to schedule teams that will play us in the nonconference. As coaches, we have a balance there that we have to figure out. I think there's still a little uncertainty in terms of where it's all going, but I think the scheduling part, being able to play against top teams every year is different. Next year we might not have this conversation. We might be right there.”