Additional Quotes >> USA Select Team 93, Canberra Capitals 49

USA head coach Anne Donovan, Seattle Storm
On today's game:
I expected that we should be the better team tonight. With the exception of about one quarter I felt we played really well today, especially considering we've only been here four days and we're playing Katie Smith out of position. We're struggling to figure out our post situation right now. All things considered I was pleased, it was a good win for us.

Not to take away anything from the USA team, but the Canberra squad just arrived from Australia yesterday and seemed a little sluggish from that.
There's no doubt that coming in four days early helped us. But even when you look at the (day's) first game between Cuba and China, they both looked fatigued also. Coming in four days early has also given us an advantage in terms of adjusting to the time difference.

Did you like what you saw overall from the team today?
I did. We didn't shoot the ball particularly well in the first half, but in the fourth quarter we locked it down and played much better defense. We're going to really have to get focused and concentrate on rebounding the basketball since we are so much smaller than most of the teams here. It's something we have to really work and concentrate on. Our guards are going to hit second shots off a miss typically isn't their responsibility, but now in our starting lineup we have one post player in Taj (McWilliams-Franklin) and we have to get Seimone (Augustus) and Katie (Smith) on the boards more. I'm pleased with the overall effort, but I also see areas where we have to get better at if we want to be competitive here.

You'll see TEO Vilnius tomorrow, a very tall team, do you know anything else about them?
No, I'm not too familiar with their team too much. We're one of the smallest teams here, which is not typical of USA teams, and they're a tall team. But we're also very talented and particularly with our experience on the perimeter so we'll have to utilize those strengths to try and compensate for the weak areas.

Katie Feenstra (Detroit Shock)
What was it like playing your first game in a USA Basketball uniform?
It was fun. It was cool to actually play with the players you always play against, to compete with them. It's just really fun to play with them at this level.

It was a great honor even to be called (by USA Basketball). It was a great honor to actually put on the jersey and step out on the court. Playing was awesome.

Tomorrow you will face a tougher team in TEO Vilnius, how will you combat their size in the post?
Just get some rest (laughs). Really go at it. I'm going to be big in the post and defend all their shots.

Kara Lawson (Sacramento Monarchs)
On today's game:
Having over half the team in Chile together and training for over a month really helped us. We tried to carry over that effort we had from that tournament. The new players we have, they've come in with just four practices and think about the challenges they have. With four practices they have to get the system down, learn the plays, things like that, and get use to playing with everyone else. I think they've done a really good job, Taj, Feeny, Loree and J-Mac. Coach Thibault told us that we have to act as if these games are practices, too. Of course we want to win, but we can use them as tools to get better. That was a focus of ours today - to try to use this game to get better.

What did you focus on in the second half?
Defense. Staying consistent. The first quarter we did a pretty good job, but in the second quarter we kind of let it get away and then the third quarter they scored more points than they did in any quarter of the game. We know that we can't have lapses like that. It's kind of a good progression for us because in the first three games the difficulty goes up each game. Tomorrow we're playing a great team that's played together for awhile and then our third game will be even tougher. Hopefully we can use today as a learning experience and hopefully tomorrow we'll get a little bit better.

Janel McCarville (New York Liberty)
How did you feel playing for USA Basketball at this level?
It was definitely fun, playing with the national team, I was excited. I got the jitters out early and it was a good game all around.

How will you combat the fact that some of these teams are so much taller than the USA squad?
We may be the shortest team, but we're definitely physical. Everybody has size, we'll out-position, outwork people in the post.

The way you played together, you all looked like you had more than just four days of practice. What can you attribute that to?
There's kind of a core group that's been together for awhile, with a couple of additions here and there. I think we're all great players who can read each other well with a limited time playing together and do the best that we can playing together. And that's what we did.

On the team's 25 assists on 37 baskets:
We're unselfish. Everybody's here to win. It's not just a one-man show and everybody wants to contribute in anyway possible.

Taj McWilliams-Franklin (Los Angeles Sparks)
On today's game:
Today's game was a good game for us, just to be able to get our legs about us and to be able to play someone else besides ourselves. Canberra is a really scrappy, tough Aussie team. They proved it in the second quarter. We had some breakdowns which allowed us to lose our double-digit lead. We also had some breakdowns in the third quarter where we fouled them an awful lot. They're real scrappy and honestly I think the second five came in and played much better than the starting five. They put the game away. They had good minutes, great defensive presence and they really, really showed why this is a USA team and not a one-woman team.

How will you combat the size of TEO Vilnius tomorrow?
We're quicker and smarter. I definitely think that we'll play that to our advantage, just like we did today. There are some big kids on that Australia team, 6-8, 6-5, 6-6 is not little. Katie Feenstra's getting her legs under her. She's playing well in the post, we just have to do what we do best and that's to come at them with our quickness and force them to try to defend on our quicker forwards.

You only had four days of practice to not only get use to playing with each other, but also to adjust to the time difference (+10 from EDT). How much does it help to have had over half this team compete together in the recent FIBA Americas Championship in Chile and many others who have competed together in the past?
It helps a lot. When you get down to it and you know you're tired mentally, you know what every player's going to do. Knowing that you've played together and have some cohesiveness that doesn't exist on teams that might have just gotten their players together. That'll hold us through when there's times where we're shaky, because you know each other and you know what everyone's strengths are. For me, playing with Sue (Bird) and Diana (Taurasi) in the off-season with Spartak (Moscow) really helped me understand their games so much more than when you're simply playing against them. I know that's the same for everybody. We also have some great additions. Janel McCarville's come to play, she looks great out there. I love it!

Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury)
On today's game:
Games like this are always a little bit hard, especially the first one of the tournament and after only four days of practice. I thought we had some good moments, there were some moments where we let up a little bit. For the most part I thought it was good to build up for tomorrow.

What did you work on in the second half after you had the game in hand?
We had some goals, defensively, to hold them to around the 10-point mark each quarter and then we held them to 11 points in the fourth quarter. I think that's the kind of things we want to do for the rest of the tournament.

What did you think about some of the newcomers?
Janel (McCarville) played great today. I think she showed why she's going to be in the USA pool mix for a long time. She can pass, defend, help us score. Loree Moore played great today, she's a tough defender, and (Katie) Feenstra also played well.