On Latvia's zone defense:
We struggled with their zone initially. I thought in the first quarter we did a great job getting the ball inside, and then when they went to more zone in the second and third quarter we settled for more outside shots than we want. We will continue to work on all of our offense, but in particular against a zone, and continue to attack inside first.

On Candace Parker:
Candace did have an injury in the first half. We could have played her, but there was no reason to risk it in the second half.

On the USA's defense:
Defensively, I do think the players are completely committed to playing it, it's just we haven't done it together long enough. We know that our chemistry defensively is going to come over time and repetition. What I'm very pleased with is the energy and the focus on it, we just have to get better at it, which is going to take some time and repetitions.

Seimone Augustus, Minnesota Lynx
On the game:
Defensively I think we still have a lot to work on, just trusting each other, being in the spots and knowing that if somebody gets beat there is help. I think everything will work itself out. It's just about playing together and getting the chemistry down. But we pulled it out. We have great players.

On the positives:
You're always glad about the good things. We did have a lot of highlights, especially when we got the ball inside to Lisa and Sylvia. The post players did a good job of kicking out when they didn't have it, and the guards were able to knock down some shots as well.

On playing Russia tomorrow:
I know most of the players on that team. It's a very tough team, hard-nosed and going to come out and compete for 40 minutes. They're going to try to knock us out of our plays, get all in our jersey, things like that. I think the best thing for us is just to keep our composure and make sure we stayed poised throughout the game.

Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever
On the game:
I think we came out and for the most part in the first half our energy was good up and down the court. In the second half, we didn't start off as strong as we should have. Overall, this was our first contest having the whole group together, and from a coaching staff and the players standpoint, we'll get better. We've come this far, and we'll continue to get better. Latvia, after watching them play, we knew the two great players that they had, number 10 and number 8. Our goal coming in was to shut down number 10, get on the boards and defensively be able to help one another. I think from a defensive standpoint our intensity was really good, but from an offensive standpoint we still have to get comfortable playing with each other and get back on the boards and we'll be all right.

On playing Russia tomorrow:
I think the biggest thing we need to work on is our offensive sets. Defensively, we just have to continue to get comfortable playing with each other. I think right now, we individually guard our players, but we have to collectively play as a team. Especially going against Russia, they are a bigger team from one to 12 basically. They got big guards, and I think it's really important that we contain and keep people in front of us. Offensively, we need to try to continue to get the ball inside.

Sylvia Fowles, Chicago Sky
On the game:
For the most part, I think we started the game out with a lot of energy and it kind of died down in the second quarter until halftime We were just playing sluggish. We picked it up finally, but I think our defense needs to get much, much better. We need to keep our energy throughout the whole game.

On whether Latvia was a surprise:
Latvia I think is a great team. They came out with a lot of energy tonight. Not to take anything away from them, but I think we could have contributed a lot more tonight. We gave away a lot of easy buckets.

What is the USA's goal in the Olympics?
All 12 of the players' goal is to win a gold medal. No setbacks, no downfalls, we are all on the same page about winning the gold medal, and we're willing to go out there and do everything we have to do to win it.

How long has the team been training together?
We've been training on and off throughout the past years. We trained a little bit before we came here to Shanghai. We've just been practicing. We haven't played any games. This was our first game tonight.

On scoring eight of her 13 points in the last couple minutes of the game:
Like the coaches said in the locker room, yes it's our first game, but we all have to be on the same page. Coach Donovan has always been in my ear about my presence on the floor and making sure I'm known. I came out a little too anxious was rushing everything. I had to calm myself down. Once I got myself going, I was able to play my game.

On having veterans like Lisa Leslie on the team:
Lisa and Tina always help your game, especially coming from a post presence. You just look at them and you model their game and see what they have to offer and learn from their mistakes and what they learned throughout their Olympic experiences because they've been here more than once. I just try to soak up everything, and listen and try to model them as much as possible.

Katie Smith, Detroit Shock
On the game:
I thought it was a good effort by everybody. I think everybody tried to do what was asked of them. Latvia is a good team. They play well together. I think we need to be a little more disciplined at times. When we start pressing, we gamble and maybe we shouldn't. We need to make teams earn more of their points through their offense. There are ways we can improve, but we didn't try to show much on offense. We put up enough points, and obviously we need to tighten up our defense.

On tonight's positives:
The contribution by everybody from the starters on down was a positive tonight. People came in and picked up the energy when it had died a little bit. I liked our aggressiveness at times, our rotations, our help defense. There were some flashes of great play, we just have to tighten it up during stretches.

Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
On the game:
Latvia is a good team. They have been playing together for a long time. They're a good, solid team, and that was our first time on the court together, so we obviously have a lot of things to work on. We did some good things and some bad things, we obliviously have to get better. There's things we have to fix.

On the USA's 21 fouls:
You have to adjust to the way they call things here. Everything is different. They let you get away with certain stuff and other stuff it's called warped. We have to do a better job being disciplined as a group and individuals. Tomorrow we'll get a chance to do it again.