BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 5, 2021

Joe Tartamella

St. John's Red Storm

Mohegan Sun Arena

Postgame Media Conference

St. John's - 65, Xavier - 57

COACH TARTAMELLA: I thought we played a great effort basketball game and gave us a good enough cushion to kind of hold on. But Xavier came out in the third quarter and put it on a little bit and we struggled to score the ball.

But pleased we were able to grind it out made. I think we made the end of game a little more exciting than it had to be. But I'm glad our team stayed together and fought through a game that in some cases during the year we weren't able to come out on top.

So for the players that got in and were able to make shots today, outside of Leilani and even Unique at this point, those were big parts of the game for us to be able to win. So certainly very happy with the way they were able to finish the deal.

Q. A lot of turnovers on both sides today, 23 for you guys. How do you fix that going into tomorrow's game, with UConn?

COACH TARTAMELLA: Well, you have to hope -- I thought our turnovers a lot of them were, in my view, just our own fault -- unforced and second-guessing. And then toward the end of the game obviously we didn't do a good job of handling, getting to the ball, stepping to the ball, handling our end-of-game inbound stuff.

And we've just got to do a better job of continuing to move and be more aggressive and stepping to the ball and knowing where people are coming from. And obviously UConn presents a more difficult challenge as we've seen in the two games that we played them before. So certainly they make it hard. They get out in passing lanes. They deny. So we've got to do a good job of making sure that we're making hard cuts and having constant movement. We've become stagnant at times and that's hurt us against them like it did in the second game.

Q. You guys haven't really started fast a lot this year. And getting out to that early 9-0 lead and then up by 10 at the end of the first. How much was that impressive to you, and obviously you needed it as they made a run in the second half?

COACH TARTAMELLA: We haven't and even in the games we had this year we weren't able to finish. So I'm always a little bit interested to see how we react once we start that well. I was pleased. It showed they were focused and ready to play and executing they were game plans. And to me, in a stage like this, regardless of your seed you're in the postseason, so to be able to come out play that way at the start I was really pleased with.

So they didn't get caught up in the moment. And obviously it gave us enough of a cushion to be able to finish. So I was proud of them all the way through and hopefully today will lend us a little bit more confidence going into tomorrow.

Q. And in terms of Unique's play over her last five or six games, what are you seeing from her? Is it just more confidence in getting used to being a starting point guard in the Big East?

COACH TARTAMELLA: Again, with Unique, she's a gifted scorer and we knew that. And she's kind of, she's probably more of a combo than more of a point but she's taking on the role. And I think for her to be able to get fluid with her offense, she's kind of cleared some space in her mind about overthinking and just trusting her instincts.

I think that's been the biggest thing for her. So we have watched that over the last few weeks; she's been important. And I thought she hit one of the biggest shots of the game. Her shot in the corner, her corner 3 kind of really boosted us back -- between her shot and Emma Nolan's 3. Those are big things for us when other people can make some shots like that. And we'll need a bunch of those going into tomorrow if we want to be able to play a little better against UConn.

Q. Nice fight for your team. How nice is it to see them be able to fight off a comeback there in the third quarter and finish it off? I know it's postseason. I know it's an 8-9 game. Those always seems to be a little more exciting. But just to see your team fight that run-off that happened in the third quarter.

COACH TARTAMELLA: Yeah, I mean, I never felt that we didn't have control through the game. There's games where you might feel that and even when it's close or even when you're down a lot you still feel okay. But I felt like we still had control of the game, even though they cut it to four, I think it was the lowest it got at one point.

And so I think to be able to kind of dig our feet into the ground a little bit and be able to show some resistance, again, I thought we did an unbelievable job in the first half doing that -- physically, just communicating defensively. I was really happy. As much as we scored the ball, I thought we left a ton of points on the floor. But we were able to play, I thought, really well defensively.

So, again, like I said, we had to make a couple of shots. That's what it came down to. We made a few shots and that changed the whole complexion of the game.

Q. 20 assists on 26 baskets this morning, today. How satisfied were you with the ball movement to start the postseason? And obviously how encouraging is it against a big challenge tomorrow for you?

COACH TARTAMELLA: Again, the first half, I thought we played as fluid offensively as we have. We're moving the ball. We were finding spots. Didn't matter if they were in man or zone. They played a little bit more man in the first half, as they switched. But I thought -- then to play without Leilani for most of that first half, I thought they did a great job.

And then we got caught up a little bit maybe in either overthinking it, overpassing it. And obviously they gained some confidence as they were scoring the ball. So we've got -- we can't have that kind of drought, obviously, tomorrow because that obviously would hurt you pretty bad.

We have to hopefully continue that movement, be able to do that, knowing that we'll be, I'm sure, pressured pretty hard as they did in both of the games. It's a good test again and a great challenge and an opportunity for our team to get out and play and see where we are again as we move into kind of the latter part of what's left for our season.

Q. You talked about Leilani in foul trouble. How much more important was it to get what Kadaja gave you today, 7-8-7 and six steals on top of that?

COACH TARTAMELLA: I forgot to mention her in the locker room. So she's probably mad at me. I didn't even see the eight assists. I looked quickly. And so Unique had six. She had 8, 7, like you said. When she plays like that, including that last play, I mean, it's something that we've always seen from her. And I think she's -- I think she's quietly been one of the most improved on our team, if not the most, when you look at her.

Look at our team now without Q, and Lei probably had the most minutes that were out there. We had a lot of players that did not play major minutes last year.

So Kadaja was kind of in that in between field, 15 to 20. Now a lot of times, when you play that many minutes, 40 or or 35, you're magnified and more mistakes show up. I think she's sown she can do it, guarding the other team's best player, sometimes playing multiple positions. She knows all different spots on the floor. So she's really improved and proud of her effort. And I tried to text her before I got on this but she didn't respond. So she's probably pissed.

Q. Rayven Peeples, we talked a little bit about her production. What did you think of what she did in this game?

COACH TARTAMELLA: Yeah, you know, quietly I thought did a lot for us. Again, at 23 minutes. And we loved to have her at 25 to 30. And even for both Ravens. But Peeples I think she could have had even more production with some of the shots she wasn't able to convert on. But she gave us a presence. Her and Raven Farley both did today. Rayven fought through a little bit of injury. Hopefully she'll be okay for tomorrow.

But I thought again both of them did a great job. Rayven Peeples, again, can score it. And she was aggressive. She was engaging. So I was pleased with her effort as well. And again you look down the list of the players, and some guys -- Sara played -- if this is correct, which I don't know -- played 15 minutes, which I think is right, that's probably more than she's played in a lot of games. So for her to do that and give us a boost, helped too.