June 13, 2007 • Colorado Springs, Colorado

Everyone got a little more settled in after the first practice and by the end of Wednesday night's session – the team's third – USA and Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie was much more pleased with the improvement she saw over a 24-hour period.

The morning's practice session was spent on various drills, five-on-fives, full court and half court drills. You know ... the basics. However, that night when the team arrived at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, there was a scrimmage team made up of local players awaiting. The guys were fast and gave the USA U21s some good competition, winning the first two of three 10-minute periods. However, the USA squad finished the night off strong and won the last period.

The players are bonding on the court, making crisper passes, encouraging each other and pulling off plays. And despite the two-a-days that don't leave much time to do anything, they're bonding off the court as well. We hit the U.S. Olympic Training Center's athlete cafeteria after the morning practice and found that the players had pushed several tables together so they could all eat as one. We like that.

However, there's always the underlying issue of "who's going to get cut?" All 14 of the players want to be there Saturday morning when the plane takes off for France. There will be a lot of relieved people tomorrow morning when practice begins. It will be bittersweet, however, as two of their friends will be going home.

Ashley Houts, University of Georgia
What did you do today and how is the team coming together?
We worked on a lot of breakdown defensively, she put in a press, worked on some zone offense, man offense. We're just working to gel together right now, play together and get the feel for everybody right now.

You've been here for about 30 hours now, have you been able to bond off the court at all?
We're just trying to get our legs under us, hang out in the little time we have and then get ready for the next practice.

Do you feel a little more sense of urgency to perform a little bit harder since you haven't played for USA Basketball in the past?
I think that in order to perform you have to go out there everyday and give it your best. At the end of the day, if you know you've brought your best, it's really all you can do. I don't necessarily feel pressure, I think everybody feels a little pressure because there's still another cut. I think we're all fighting right now, playing hard and trying to make things happen.

Crystal Langhorne, University of Maryland
What's it like being out here on the court with some of the people you played with on the 2004 USA U18 National Team?
As far as playing with different people, it's always exciting playing with some of the best in the country. I enjoy it.

What have the practices been like?
You always know that when you come out to USA Basketball the practices are going to be intense. Right now we're just trying to gel and get to know each other better. Some of the people haven't played with each other before so we're just getting use to each other and we're just working on getting better.

What's it like playing for coach P?
I like it. I really like playing for her. It's always nice to play with a different coach and learn different styles. I'm excited about playing for her.

Courtney Paris, University of Oklahoma
The last time we saw you, you were in Italy with the 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team. What did you learn from that and how are you applying that here?
A lot of stuff, actually. A lot of moves, a lot of techniques, how to play harder, really push myself and respect USA Basketball a lot more. That was a lot of stuff that I learned.

What's it like to get back out here with your own age group?
Oh, it's a lot of fun! These are kids I've been hanging out with for the last four summers so it's like a summer ritual for me. It's cool to see these guys and it's cool to play basketball here with them. As cool as it is to play against them (during the season), it's even cooler to be out here playing with them again.

Who are some of the toughest people to go up against out here?
All of them. Kia's really tough, she's really strong. Lindsay, she's been really tough, she's stronger than I thought she was. They all are really tough.

You've been here about 30 hours now, have you been able to do anything fun off the court?
Not really. Until we get off these double days, all we want to do now is take a nap. The fun's going to come later.

Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton, Purdue University
How have the last three practices been going, is the team progressing a little bit?
Definitely. The first day we were all kind of, you know, we were traveling, we were tired, we were all a little bit sloppy. But this morning we were more focused. We're being more team-oriented. We're focused more on not turning the ball over, be more like a team. And then when the guys came in for tonight's scrimmage we were able to beat them in one of the games. That was a big plus for us. But I think as each session goes by we get a lot better at learning the plays. She's been throwing new stuff at us each practice, like presses and stuff, and I think we're adjusting to it very well.

There's still one cut to be made. How much does it help you having played for coach P last summer for the 2006 USA U20 National Team?
I think I have a little bit of an advantage because I know her style and what she expects. She expects you to cheer, clap, do all this and go hard every time. If I was knew I might not grasp all of this until later on in the sessions, so I think that has a big plus.

You only have seven practices in Colorado before you head overseas to play France. How important is it to bond on and off the court quickly?
It's huge. You're going to be with these people for a month and that's a long, long time. It's important to gain friendships and that creates chemistry off the court as well as on the court. So I think that once we all are good friends off the court, that'll help us with our bonding and team chemistry.