University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn-St. John's Post Game Quotes
2/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2012
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UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma
What was your defensive strategy on the last St. John's possession?
"We made a mistake [committing] the second foul. I think Bria [Hartley] got a little over anxious. That's not really when we wanted the foul to come. The very last possession was the same play that [
What can you say about the effort from the Red Storm?
"St. John's put us in that situation with the way they played. I think they played great. They had their game plan and they stuck to it. We didn't get enough shots at the basket. They had 14 more shots than we did. I don't know that you're going to win a lot of games when you let a team get that many more shots. Every time they needed to make a shot it seemed like they made it."
Did the team look over anxious on offense, to you?
"There was very little, if any, offensive flow today. It didn't look like we had the ability to get the ball from one side of the floor to the other, like we always do. We didn't move like we normally do and because of that we ended up getting shots that they wanted us to get, rather than the shots that we wanted to get."
Did emotions play a factor in the team's performance?
"Definitely, our upper classmen were affected by something. I don't know what, but they didn't play the way they normally play. The look on [Caroline Doty's] face was she didn't have it today and obviously Tiffany [Hayes] didn't have it."
Senior Guard Tiffany Hayes
On how they got UConn out of a rhythm:
"It was us, we couldn't get in to any type of rhythm. Some of the time we couldn't finish, and we just couldn't knock down shots. Sometimes they made us rush a little bit. Other than that I just think it was us. We couldn't get stuff done."
On how she feels:
"It's just a loss period. You never want to lose, and especially at home and on a day like this. But it is still a loss and it feels like another loss no matter what."
On the mood of the team:
"We have to focus. Coach said a loss is probably good for us because we were making mistakes in other games. He was saying it would cost us in other games and today it happened. I think it will make us focus even more in practice."
Freshman Center Kiah Stokes
On how the loss felt:
"It is really tough. Every team plays to try to come here and win. St. John's did that. We weren't prepared and we weren't organized. It breaks your heart. This is our house and we are not supposed to lose here. It's hard to get that through my head, that we actually just loss."
On this being good for them:
"It really puts us back in check. Any team can come beat us, it doesn't matter, rankings don't matter. It is what we do and we didn't come to play. We had too many turnovers, and missed too many layups. I let the girl shoot a three to win the game. We could've done so much stuff better. I think losing this game shows us in the future that we have to fix so much stuff. Just little things, but it will make us a much better team."
Sophomore Center Stefanie Dolson
How frustrating is this loss?
"It's extremely frustrating to lose like this at this point in the season. We didn't play like our usual selves. We came out and it was like we didn't even care. St. John's punched us and we backed down. When you're playing a team like St. John's, the little things matter and we didn't do them."
How bad is the turnover situation right now for you? You had 18 turnovers tonight and they scored 20 points off those turnovers?
"It's obviously extremely bad. No team wants 18 turnovers and the fact that they capitalized on most of them is unacceptable. At this point of the season, we shouldn't be turning the ball over as many times as we did. We have to take care of it. It just means that we aren't practicing that during the practices. We need to focus on the little things and not have turnovers."
What'd you see on the final defensive set when they took that three?
"There's a lack of communication and when there's a lack of communication, usually something bad happens and (Shenneika) Smith knocked it down."
Are you upset with yourself getting the two early fouls and the inconsistent play?
"Absolutely. Getting those first two fouls, coach definitely got on me. It's unacceptable to get that second foul. He kept saying I was 90 feet from the basket. So I'm definitely upset with myself. I think my team needed me out there. I don't think we had a really good flow of offense when I wasn't in the game. That really killed us tonight. I definitely am upset with myself.
What do you need to work on personally to get better?
"Just working on everything. Working on finishing at the basket. Work on my defense, I gave up too many shots today."
Head Coach Kim Barnes Arico
Opening Statement:
"I thought it was a great basketball game, especially for us, tonight and I thought our kids really stepped up to the challenged. They showed what we are capable of doing and what kind of team we are heading down the stretch of the season."
Can you talk about Shennika Smith's fearlessness tonight?
"She was gutsy. She wanted it too. She wanted me to call that play and I said to my staff at the time, 'Should we go for the tie here or should we go for the win,' and we said, 'Why not go for the win?' We had Da'Shena (Stevens) on open up, so if we didn't Shennika we were going to go inside to Da'Shena. She wanted it. She had a tremendous year and I don't think people really recognize it because she does it a lot for us on the defensive end. Tonight she [Shennika] wanted the ball at the end of the game. She asked for the ball and made the big. What you said about our team that we have different kids on different nights or even different positions that can really step up. I mean, Nadirah (McKenith) made the play at half and Da'Shena made plays all through the game. She [Shennika] asked for it and she made the play and I'm really happy for her. "
It's been almost twenty years since an unranked team beat Connecticut at home, how do you get your team to believe that that's possible?
"I think one of the first things is that coming into the preseason, I think we were preseason ranked number 15 in the country. We have such great guards, the three guard rotation, and then you add Da'Shena, who is a first team all BIG EAST selection, to that mix, so we really felt great about coming into this year. Then, Da'Shena got injured and was out for about four months. Then, Da'Shena came back and Nadirah got injured and was out three games…We don't go like we are capable of going without those two. So we believed all year long that we're a great team. The rest of the world didn't get to see it because we weren't healthy. Once we got Da'Shena back in the mix, it just gave a tremendous about of confidence to everybody else. In Da'Shena's first couple of games, we didn't even need her to score. Her presence, just being on the floor and being able to rebound and being able to lead and being able to defend just made the rest of them so comfortable and able to relax and take a break. Since she's been back we have taken off… If anybody, the NCAA committee, the AP writers or the coaches, look at how we've been since we've been healthy, I don't think there's any question that we're not one of the best teams in the country. I said that at the last press conference. I would be surprised if we aren't one of the top 30 teams in the country. Golly, you guys got to see us tonight. You think there's 30 better?"
Senior Forward Da'Shena Stevens
Beating UConn for the first time in your career and being a Connecticut kid, what does it mean to you?
"It feels amazing just for our team and the stretch we've been playing so far. I think we've been playing great. We've been beating teams. Right now we are just feelin' it. I think we made a statement tonight. Last game we played great. Coach (Barnes Arico) brought up not being ranked, but we really didn't worry about that. To come out and play against a great team with what they were going for tonight, it just feels amazing."
Junior Guard Nadriah McKenith
How good does it feel now that you have your whole team healthy and playing?
"In the beginning of the season we didn't have Da'Shena, so we had different players stepping up and playing a bigger role. Now that Da'Shena's back, everybody's back to playing their regular position. I think that we are playing great right now with everybody healthy. We are just playing St. John's basketball. It means a lot to have the whole team out there. Now the whole world can see that we're one of the top teams in the country."
