April 19, 2008 • Beijing China

Anne Donovan, head coach
Opening statement:
Obviously the result was not what we wanted in terms of a win. But I was pleased with several things I saw out there today. Number one, it's good to have Lisa Leslie back on the court for us again. She's done a tremendous job getting herself back in shape after having a baby and being away from us essentially since Athens. It's great to have her back on the floor again.

We've had four practices with this new and very young team so overall I thought we did a nice job after four days of practice. It hurts us to lose this game against Australia, but we know we're going to continue to improve and get better as the tournament goes on.

Where are the rest of the players on the USA National Team like Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird?
This team is not our Olympic team. This is a training team right now. (Diana) Taurasi, Sue Bird, Candace Parker, several players are not with us now. They're overseas playing basketball, they're in Europe fulfilling their commitments. We expect they'll be with us in August when we return for the Olympics.

Swin Cash, Seattle Storm
On the fourth quarter:
They showed their experience down the stretch. They made key plays, plays teams who play together for a long time usually make. I thought it was a learning experience for our team and it's only going to help us in this tournament. We'll go back, watch the film, learn from it and get up tomorrow and play another game.

On Cuba, the USA's next opponent:
Cuba's very physical, they play well together, they're aggressive. For 40 minutes they're going to be all over you on the defensive end. We've just got to take better care of the basketball, control the backboard and play solid defense. One thing about USA Basketball, when we're having problems shooting the basketball we can't let other teams score on us. Our defense has to be our staple. That's what we're going to focus on tomorrow.

Sylvia Fowles, Chicago Sky
You found yourself in foul trouble tonight, how difficult was it for you to have to watch much of the game from the bench?
It's very hard watching your team out there doing things without you. Especially when you're in foul trouble and you know you can help and you want to be out there to help them. It all boils down to just being smarter and if it comes to someone taking a layup or (you fouling), sometimes that's what you have to let them do.

What do you need to do to adjust your game going forward to stay out of foul trouble in future international games?
Just being smarter. Like I said, if that means letting someone get a layup, let them get that layup. I don't want to give up points, but my teammates need me out there on the floor.

Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks
Opening statement:
It's disappointing to lose because obviously playing for the USA, we never want to lose. But I thought it was a very good learning experience with us coming here with a very young team. I thought we did a lot of good things tonight with the execution of our offense and also on defense. We will continue to improve and play better throughout this tournament.

On the Wukesong Arena:
I thought the facility was very beautiful. It looks very nice and the people of China should be proud. Everything here looks beautiful, the hotel, the locker rooms, everything is really nice.

What was your motivation to come back after having a baby, why did you do it?
This is my first international competition since 2006. I can be better, I can be stronger, I can get better conditioned for my team. I'm always looking to see what I can do better and what I can improve on. Basically I don't have a secret, I just work out really hard, do a lot of running, a lot of lifting to try to be my best. The reason why I continue to play is that I really feel that I can help the USA and my WNBA team as well. I will continue to play as long as it's fun.

There are several athletes who have come back after giving birth like Lindsay Davenport, Marla Runyon, how does it feel to join a group that we like to call "super mom?"
I feel great to be a part of the 'super moms.' Especially after having a child and knowing the work ethic and discipline that it takes to care for a child. I'm with my child most of the time. I take four hours to go through my workouts and I come back home. I have a very supportive husband who really helps me to be able to come back and play. It's a full-time job, being a mom. I love it. It's simply changed my life. But I still love having this time to be with myself, my teammates, my coaches, to be around the team. I love that part too. I'm thankful that I'm a mom and I have the opportunity and the family support to be able to continue to play.

Katie Smith, Detroit Shock
On Australia's fourth quarter run:
We kind of gave in a little bit. They got a lot of easy buckets and took advantage, they put the ball on the floor, some of their bigs hit some buckets (outside) after penetration. Obviously we didn't score but then our defense really didn't get on track. They pushed the ball a little bit more and got up on us. We didn't quite get it done, we didn't have enough. We didn't make stops when we needed them.

On the USA's outside shooting (2-19 3pt FGs):
We didn't get any great looks but we had some. We missed a lot of easy ones, missed a lot of free throws. We didn't necessarily get a lot of looks on the break, we can do a better job pushing the ball. We had opportunities to score. Even thought we might not have been hitting the long balls, but we were missing free throws, buckets in the paint, the little ones. We had our opportunities. But it still comes back to defense. Even if we're not scoring we have to find a way to stop them.

What can you learn from this as you move forward?
I thought we did some good things, we had good stretches. But then we had poor stretches. When you lose, especially now, this close to the Olympics, hopefully it sits in the back of your mind a little bit. You hope you remember this feeling and it makes you play that much harder next time out. You can't relax or have any moments of lapses because they're not going to stop coming at you. We're going to have to play better for 40 minutes and not play in spurts.

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