Additional Quotes >> USA 82, Argentina 46

Merida, Mexico • June 14, 2011

Jill Rankin Schneider, USA head coach
On tonight's game:
Our depth really came to fruition tonight when Taya (Reimer) and Mercedes (Russell) got in foul trouble so early. Our bench came in and did a great job of extending our lead and giving us some great minutes. We were a little bit sluggish in the first quarter, and then we came back and played a strong second quarter. I think we let some of the early adversity affect us a little bit, and we got frustrated. I think it took us a little bit of time to adjust, but all of our young ladies did a great job coming in and turning that around in the second quarter, and that led into the second half.

On the USA's rebounding:
We absolutely dominated the offensive boards in the second quarter in particular. I think that was the turning point. I thought the difference in the game was our ability to dominate the glass.

The USA committed 28 turnovers tonight. Does that worry you moving forward?
We've got to minimize our tunovers. I think most of our turnovers are coming when we are in transition, and we are not making good judgements as to when to push the ball and when to pull it up and just get an offensive possession. Some of that is just maturity and learning to play with each other, but we have to minimize those. We can't continue to have those kinds of turnovers and expect to win the gold medal.

Rebecca Greenwell
On tonight's game:
Everybody played well tonight. I thought we did really well in our half-court zone, and then our defense led to our offense.

On her 22 points:
Tonight felt really good. I knocked down my first few shots, and that gave me a lot of confidence throughout the game.

On the USA's rebounding:
Coach really emphasized rebounding during our timeouts, that we needed to get some offensive boards if we wanted to win this game, so I think everyone responded and worked hard to get rebounds.

Do you feel like this team is improving?
I definitely think we are improving. We are coming together as a team, and we are doing a better job of running our offense and our defense is improving as well.

Linnae Harper
On tonight's game:
I think it was good game, and it was an intense game. We really picked it up in the second quarter, and our defense and intensity was good.

What was the difference in the second quarter?
Our defense got better in the second quarter. We were a little laid back in the first quarter, and then we came out with a different mindset in the second. We hustled and outworked them.

On the USA's depth:
Everybody on our team is talented, and on any given day any of our players could be our high scorer. I think everybody has their role, and we are playing well together.

Erica McCall
On tonight's game:
I think it was a well played game. The bench got a lot of minutes, which really shows how deep as a team we are. We have a variety of players that can score. Other benches aren't as strong as us, and that helps, because we can just keep bringing in players.

On the USA's rebounding:
We had to really box out, and we knew coach wanted us to get offensive rebounds.

What was the difference in the second quarter as the USA began to pull away?
We started a step slow, and coach really pushed us to get better on defense, which led to more offense. We need to work on starting that from the beginning of the game and not just from the second quarter or second half. That will be a big deal for us as we get keep going in the tournament.

Jatarie White
On tonight's game:
It was really physical. We did have a size advantage over Argentina, but they were tough. We still had to use our bodies and fight for everything.

What was the difference in the second quarter as the USA pulled away?
We got out wide and ran the ball. We found open players and got the ball inside, and then we finished inside, too.

On the USA's rebounding:
I think we did a really good job rebounding tonight. We fought to get loose balls, and I think we did that better and better as the game went on.

On the USA's defense:
I think our defense improved, and we played well tonight. We got a couple of steals out of our half-court zone.