Additional Quotes >> USA 99, Puerto Rico 51

Merida, Mexico • June 17, 2011

Jill Rankin Schneider, USA head coach
On tonight's game:
We started out sluggish, and I don't think our big bodies established themselves offensively the way that we needed them to. That changed in the second quarter. Our bench came in and continued to be a catalyst for us. We dominated the boards, and we were going hard inside. That second quarter run was the ball game essentially, and it was by and large from players off of our bench. We were a little sloppy defensively in the second half -- we gave up too many boards, we fouled too much and gave up baseline penetration. I'm glad that we got that one behind us, and now we've got the gold medal game in front of us. I fully expect this team to rise to the occasion.

On the USA's second quarter run:
I love them as a group, and I think they are playing very well together.

On the USA's post play:
I thought Jatarie (White) came in and gave us some key minutes. She, Sydney (Umeri) and Stephanie (Mavunga) all came in and gave us a big spark inside that we were needed. Mercedes, again, was a big factor for us defensively, but all of our bigs did a pretty good job tonight.

Are you ready for the gold-medal game tomorrow?
We need to come in focused and ready to go, knowing that it's time to lay it on the line. We need all of our players playing well for us. It doesn't matter if we play Canada or Brazil, these are two very good teams. I think it's going to take all of us, and if we are hitting on all cylinders, I'm confident in the outcome.

Rebecca Greenwell
On tonight's game:
I thought we came out a little sluggish in the first quarter, but we picked it up in the second quarter.

On the USA's second quarter run:
Now that we are all in a grove and we've played a couple of games, I think we all have the confidence to share the ball and knock down shots.

Are you ready for the gold-medal game tomorrow?
I think we need to pick it up defensively because that is the key to winning games. If we want to beat a team like Canada or Brazil, then we need to come out strong on the defensive end. It feels great knowing that all this hard work that we put in is paying off.

Jannah Tucker
On tonight's game:
I think the game went really well. We had a great second quarter, and then in the second half we were a little sluggish. We have to clean up our defense, but if we keep playing hard and playing together, everything else will take care of itself.

On the USA's second quarter run:
Our chemistry is great. We know each other's strength and weaknesses. We knew we had a mismatch with our bigs, so we got the ball inside and dominated there.

Are you ready for the gold-medal game tomorrow?
I think our defense is the key to the game tomorrow. Like coach always says, we need to limit how much they score to win the game. It feels great to be playing for a gold medal. That is what we have all worked so hard for.

Sydney Umeri
On tonight's game:
I thought the game went pretty well for the most part. The second quarter was definitely our strongest quarter. Defensively, we started to get a little sluggish, slow and pretty sloppy. If we can fix that, I feel confident about the gold-medal game tomorrow.

On the USA's second quarter run:
We are getting along really well, and on the court we have really started to shine. It's not just a one-man game; it's all 12 of us.

Are you ready for the gold-medal game tomorrow?
I'm really excited. USA, we play to get gold. There is gold and there is nothing else. So, I'm really excited to be a part of this.

Jatarie White
On tonight's game:
I thought tonight we did really well offensively. We got a lot of rebounds and put backs, we hustled and we ran through our offenses. We could have played better on defense and done a better job of picking people up, but overall it was a good game.

Any trouble staying focused with a big lead?
We stayed focused, but our defense needs to get better.

How much fun was tonight?
I always like getting on the court and showing what we can do.

Are you ready for the gold-medal game tomorrow?
I'm anxious for tomorrow. I want to see who we play. I want to get on the court and show them that we deserve the gold, and we came to get the gold.