USA Women's National Team Quotes >> USA 78, UMMC Ekaterinburg 63

Geno Auriemma, USA Head Coach

What were your overall impressions of today's game?
We knew it was going to be a difficult game because of how good they (Ekaterinburg) are, the crowd and being home, and we were missing two of our really important players. But I can't be more proud and excited for the players on our team; how well we played; how well we executed; how strong we were throughout the whole game.

I think everything we tried to do going into the game I thought we did a great job of that.  They don't make a lot of mistakes and we knew we would have to play pretty much a perfect game and I think we came pretty close to playing a perfect game.  There were very, very few mistakes by us and everybody that played, played really, really well.  We had contributions from everyone and that's what makes this feel even better.

In the final five minutes of the second half the U.S. transitioned off of everything they were missing and scored 17 straight points.  Have you seen this team play any better than that?
We've only played three games with this group but that was the best stretch we've had because our defense was really good and then we converted down at the other end and it wasn't just the same person all the time converting, we were able to spread it around.

You know we have the best point guard; When you've got Sue Bird handling the ball and directing traffic … We've only been together 10 days and it's a short period of time. But I thought in that short period of time we accomplished an awful lot and today was probably the biggest of all the accomplishments.

Swin Cash gave you some important play early.
Ohhhh, Swin was unbelievable in the beginning.  We went into the game wanting to attack them a little bit one-on-one because of their size, they were just so big and I thought if we could use our quickness that would be to our advantage.  I started Swin because I know she plays great in big games.  She won gold on the Olympic team (2004); she's won two WNBA titles; she was MVP of the all-star game and she just has a way of coming up big in big games. Once we got a lead with her in there it just made everything a little bit easier for us.

I thought Tina (Charles) came off the bench and gave us some great minutes.  Angel (McCoughtry) was spectacular; defensively, offensively, and Shameka (Christon) hit those couple of threes and they were huge because you know you come out in the second half and you're not sure what's going to happen the first couple of minutes and then bang we got them and I think it kind of demoralized them a little bit.  It was a real tough hill for them to climb back from.

What about Sylvia Fowley's rebound and defense tonight?
Sylvia's capable of having an impact in the game every time down the floor at both ends of the floor. I think she picked the perfect time to come out of her little shell that she puts herself in sometimes.  That's the biggest team we've played since we've come together and we needed every one of Sylvia's rebounds and we needed her to do exactly what she did to Tday.  I hope she builds on this because this was great performance by her.

Sue Bird

It seemed like the tempo in today's game was much different than it was in the first two games.
Coach Auriemma has been stressing for us to be an up tempo team, a team that gets out in transition and with the talent and the athleticism that we have in this locker room, that's our advantage, especially against these European teams.  He's always challenging our post players especially to get up and down and see if their post players can run with us. Tonight I think the best part about this game was the way we controlled the boards and that's really what let us get out and run.

How good was that 17-0 run in the second quarter? The defense was making the stops and you were getting out in transition and converting into baskets.
You know it's funny, we obviously haven't been together long and sometimes it's hard to build a chemistry. So the best thing you can do is play tough defense, rebound run. You don't have to set anything up, you can just play off each other and it's very similar to pick-up basketball. You just go out there and utilized your talents and we were able to do that.  It started on the defensive end.

You finally hit three towards the end of the game.
Finally, oh my God! It wasn't exactly my best shooting but I think everybody really played their role well and I'm glad that at least one of them went in (laughing).

Swin Cash

You had a great start today; did you feel like you were in the flow right from the start?
I tried to come out and be real aggressive and set the tone.  I know coach wanted me to try and make some things happen on defense and we were able to get a couple steals and get out in transition.  I was just happy to be a part of it.

It seemed like your shot was right on tonight.
All through the summer I've been really working on my game and trying to be consistent with the 15 footer and they were giving me that shot and I was able to knock it down and when I missed, Sylvia was down low to clean up on the rebound.  It was a great night for us.

How rewarding was winning the gold medal?
It was rewarding because I think it's a pre-gold medal to what we want next September (FIBA World Championship).  So anytime you can come over and win a championship in a tournament like this it's important, especially for the younger guys to see that and understand what the standard is with USA Basketball.

Sylvia Fowley

The team got off to a good start and you were really rebounding in the game. 
We got off to good start but my rebounding had a lot to do with coach challenging me.  Yesterday I played like six minutes and didn't get a rebound so he didn't play me in the second half so it was a challenge to go out there and do well for my team.  But at the same time everybody was on the same page and we wanted to get it done from the get go.

What about the 17-0 run that finished off the second quarter?
That was a good feeling only because the United States always gets dished that it can't get it done and everything doesn't always work in our favor. But just for us to be on the same page and for us to utilize our abilities to do what we can do, I enjoyed every moment on it.

The U.S. was short on post players today with Candace being injured and Asjha being required to play for Ekaterinburg. Were you concerned about that and can you talk about playing their bigs, was it a physical contest?
It was both physical and mentally tough too because they try to out think you.  For us not having all of our post players was kind of a concern, but at the same time coach already had installed in our minds that it wasn't a concern or a worry, that if we went out and got it done then we wouldn't have to worry about our lack of post players.

Were you focusing today on just rebounding?
Yes I was focusing today on rebounding.  If shots would have gone up and we would have made it, then that would have been a plus, but my main focus was to crash the boards every time hard and get boards for my team; and play defense as well.

Talk about game, the team came out with a lot of real good energy and got in a good offensive flow.
Coach had a great game plan and all we had to do was execute.  I knew we were going to be successful because the way we play with such passion and such discipline, nobody can hang with that.  I think we kind of wore them out a little bit, running up and down, they looked tired, they weren't hitting those shots, so that was good for us.

How good was that 17-0 run?
It was all about the defense.  We played good D, they were tired, we got rebounds and ran.  They had a little spurt where they got a lot of rebounds but we adjusted to that and once we started rebounding we got that run.

Was this fun game to play in with the crowd and Invitational title on the line?
This was so much fun.  This is what we play for, we love it.

How does it feel to win gold after such a short training period?
It feels great because I've never won anything big before.  I haven't won a national championship; I haven't won a WNBA championship; so what have I really won?  So the gold medal feels great.