Preview >> USA Women Take On Turkey

The last time the USA played its next Olympic opponent Turkey, which was just a few weeks ago, the USA needed nearly all 40 minutes before it was able to secure the win, recording an 80-61 exhibition victory that was closer than the final score indicated on July 22 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Get prepared for Wednesday's game with our preview.

• Game Notes

Scouting Report:

Marynell Meadors (USA assistant coach, Atlanta Dream head coach)
We've played Turkey just a few weeks ago, can you talk about some of their strenghts?
The one thing that they do on offense is they do a lot of screening and cutting. It's a continuity-type offense that they have, and they are very good at it. They've been to gether for quite some time, and their timing is just incredible. But I think what we have to do is we have to make sure that we defend each one of the ball screens becasue you are going to get hit at some point during the offensive sets that they throw at you. They have two really exceptional players, Nevriye Yilmaz and Tugba Palazoglu. Palazoglu is an outstanding 3-point shooter, shooting about 45.0 percent from that area, so she hasn't missed many shots. Yilmaz is a really good post player, more finess than she is power, and then they bring in Quanitra Hollingsworth, who is definitely a great screener and makes things happen for them as far as getting people open.

What differences do you expect to see from either team this time around?
I think that they were very good the last time we played them, and I think the more they play the better they get, just like what we are doing. The more we play together, the better we are getting. I think it's all going to depend on our defense. That's a huge key, so that we can get some offensive fast breaks. I think it we play really good defense, and we talk on our screens and absolutley go to the boards and rebound, then we've got a great chance of beating them.

Practice Quotes:

Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx)
On playing Turkey:
We’re going to see a lot of the same things, as far as their energy, how hard they play, how well they run their sets. It’s going to be a battle. We’re going to have to be sharp. We’re going to have to be more together than we ever have been, as far as communication and defensively being on the same page. So, it’s going to be a battle. But I think that after 40 minutes, if we do what we know we can, we should come out ahead.