Additional Quotes (NOTE: Australia quotes from Jan Sterling, Lauren Jackson are below)

September 7, 2006 • Durham, North Carolina
Story || Box Score || Milton-Jones on the game (mp3) || Beard, Donovan, Goestenkors, Thompson (mp3) || Photos

USA head coach ANNE DONOVAN, Seattle Storm
Opening Comments:
We have been focusing on our defense a lot which is a tough thing to buy into and I thought the girls did a great job with that end. Offensively we stayed with just our motion offense for the most part so you didn't see a lot of variation of what we ran and I thought we did a good job considering that one offensive set. I was really pleased with the effort. This was a great environment for us. I know Alana Beard was excited to be back. What a great place to play.

On rebounding
(Rebounding) is a concern. We have lost some size with Yolanda Griffith and Lisa Leslie not being with this team so we have to constantly focus on that end of the floor. If we can control defense boards we can run more which is our strength. Since we are smaller, we're faster so it's something we have to get after.

On USA offense
I looked up at one point and couldn't believe me had 23 points for the longest time in the first half. I believe that will come, in particular when we utilize more of what we've got.

On allowing Australia to come back late in the fourth quarter
It's always a concern when you let someone back in the game. We know that Australia likes to shoot the three and they shoot it very well and that was our demise in the second half. I'm not overly concerned at this point. For me, this was a great test for us. Australia is one of the best teams that we are going to see. Overall we passed a good test tonight and we're going to get better by the time we see them again.

USA ASSISTANT COACH GAIL GOESTENKORS
Opening Statements
It's a great experience, just to have the opportunity. It felt odd. I talked to Anne before the game that it was going to be odd to be on the bench but not be in charge, to be in our locker room but not be in charge. It took a little adjusting, but it was good.

It's been so nice for our program in so many ways. It shows great respect for the program that they were willing to come here and have the practices. It's helped me because I've been able to be with my team at the same time. We've had several recruits in to watch practice and it's helped them to understand that here at Duke, we're playing basketball at the very highest level. Many of them have aspirations of being Olympians, so I think this has helped us in every way, shape and form. It's helped us, hopefully, introduce some fans to the game of women's basketball who haven't seen games before and hopefully they'll come back.

On the turnout
I was very pleased. I wanted us to make a statement about the fans here at Duke, that they would come out for women's basketball, not just Duke women's basketball. I think their support was really important for us. I'm very pleased and very thankful that they would come out and support us.

On watching Alana Beard returning to Cameron
When they introduced Alana and when she went in the game for the first time, and the crowd cheered, it gave me goosebumps. It made me feel really good that they still feel so warmly about her and really appreciate her and that they welcomed her back the way they did. It made me proud.

On her role with the USA team
I'm just an assistant coach, so I'm doing whatever Anne needs from me. All three of us are going to take different teams that we're going to scout for her.

On coaching previous opponents
It's interesting because I don't think of them as from Tennessee or Connecticut anymore. On this team it's about USA Basketball and trying to get everybody to be the best players that they can be.

ALANA BEARD
Opening Statements
This is a heartfelt game. I thought our defense made a statement tonight. That's what we've worked on for the past nine days. I thought the team came out and did an unbelievable job defensively. Offensively, we still have a little bit of work to do. We just need to get the continuity going, and once we get that going I think we'll be pretty good.

On being back in Cameron
It was a great feeling being back. I started getting hyped when the band starting playing when we were out there warming up. I started reminiscing about being out there, starting in the games. So that was really exciting for me.

On her 18-footer to end the first quarter
The first shot, I just took what the defense gave me. We ran a screen and roll play and the shot was open, so I took it.

On playing with/against such great players
It's a great experience. I've said the entire time that I think this year's just special. The veterans are sort of handing the reins over to the younger players. For the younger players, the challenge is to step in and take from them what has made them so dominant for the past ten years. It's a very special year and I'm very excited to be playing alongside players like Tina Thompson and Sheryl Swoopes.

On lessons learned from veterans
I remember my first session with Sheryl Swoopes. There was one point that I was just going too fast. I have a tendency to go too fast. She said to me, 'AB, slow down a little bit.' Those little things - those little words - help a lot. And just watching her game. Sheryl's a two, I play a two, and listening to Dawn, also. Dawn Staley has been very good with the players. She's been through it and she knows a lot. We just listen to the little words she has to say to us and take it in stride.

DeLISHA MILTON-JONES
On picking up the slack with the absence of Yolanda Griffith and Lisa Leslie
Myself as well as Tina Thompson and Tamika Catchings, we all know that not just one of us can make up for the loss of Yolanda Griffith or Lisa Leslie, but with a combined effort, we won't miss them and their absence won't be as felt as before. I feel that tonight everyone as a collective group really tried to focus on being very aggressive on the defensive end and attack them offensively because we feel that they can't necessarily guard us. The three of us can all put the ball on the floor, shoot the three and shoot the pull-up jumper. That makes it difficult for other teams to match up with us.

TINA THOMPSON
On the USA's motion offense:
I think it was going a little stagnant. We have a lot of new faces on our team and sometimes we're faced with a little unfamiliarity and I think soemtimes players were trying to be a little bit too unselfish at times, passing up shots and stuff like that. I think I was most proud of our defense, we didn't score as much offensively as we had been in practice against the guys and everything. But defensively we held them. So if we're not scoring it's great if we can keep the other team from not scoring as well.

AUSTRALIA HEAD COACH JAN STIRLING:
On what she takes out of this game
It was a pretty ugly game. Obviously (USA Head Coach) Anne (Donovan) struggled with the fact that the WNBA just finished and she's still waiting to pick up players. We've come back from Europe and have had to try to sub five players in for the very first time. It's a difficult scenario for both teams. I'm sure both teams were just testing the waters to find out where they are at and what they need to work on to be competitive with the world.

On struggling offensively in the second quarter
I thought we struggled the whole game. We couldn't find any scoring options in the second half. I think to their credit they out-muscled us and didn't let us get into anything. We have to learn from that. We've got a lot of young players that haven't had the experience at this level so for them it's a big learning curve. I know we'll come out of this game knowing that we've got some things we can work on and the players will come out better.

On the brightest spots for her team in the game:
I thought overall our defense was pretty good. Usually America has just so many scoring options. I thought defensively we at least didn't let the game get away from us because our defense was pretty tough. That was probably the most pleasing. Obviously it's good to see Lauren (Jackson) back on the court; we haven't seen her in a number of months because she's been in the WNBA. For Kristi Harrower And Penny Taylor to come in, I thought they were our most significant players. For the young ones we're trying to get people into various rolls. At least if your defense is rock solid you know you can always tidy things up offensively, but if you've got problems in both areas then you're struggling.

On finding the right combination of players
I was bit concerned when I looked at the score sheet at halftime and one of our players had played 24 minutes. We tried to manage people and get everyone out there, so for us we're big-picture focused. We're still mixing up combinations. When you come into a campaign and you're actually suiting up five players for the very first time with your national team, and in three days you're touring the world, that's a scary scenario for any group.

AUSTRALIA FORWARD LAUREN JACKSON
On missing playing against Lisa Leslie:
It would be great to see her out here. I love playing against her, but they've got so many great young players coming through.

On focusing defensively on Tina Thompson:
I think for me my focus tonight was trying to learn the plays. We've had one session where I've been on the court all year pretty much. I think that for me with a couple more days before worlds start I just need to get in the groove of things and play with my team again and get out there with the Aussies. It's so much fun; I miss so much competing with this Australian team. It was awesome. Even though we lost, it was by seven points and it was a bloody ugly game.