Additional Quotes >> USA 86, Canada 47

Jill Rankin Schneider (USA head coach, Monterey H.S., Texas)
On the game:
I thought we started out pretty sluggish, and we didn't bring a lot of intensity defensively or on the boards at all. Canada has really good size, and we knew that was going to be a challenge for us on the boards. In the early stages of the game, we responded poorly to that. Certainly in the second quarter we started doing a better job. We had a group that came in -- I thought Erica McCall came in with a whole lot of energy and was part of the group that really got us going. I thought Diamond DeShields had an amazing first half, and thank goodness because we were struggling to score early. We got things going in the second half.

On the USA's first quarter:
It's a good thing that we can start that sluggishly and turn it around, but it's not a good thing to be in the World Championship and to start out so flat, so I think that is something we are going to have to work on as a team, in terms of our energy in our warm up and our energy in the first quarter.

On the USA's defense:
Canada took a lot of shots. They were 15 out of 72 overall, so there were a lot of rebounds to be had, and that helps us in transition when we can control the defensive boards. We let them have their share of offensive rebounds. I thought they did a great job of crashing the boards, but when we were able to create some turnovers and come up with some rebounds, we were able to get going in transition, and that helped turn the momentum our way.

Kaela Davis (Buford H.S./Suwanee, Ga.)
On the USA's first quarter:
I think it started with our warm up. Our warm up was slow and kind of lethargic. We tried to pick it up, but when you warm up like that, it's tough to go from off to on. So, we have to work on it, but we will come out and do a lot better next game. It's an energy thing, and that's something we should have. There is no excuse for it. No matter what, you have to learn a lesson from it, so it was bad, but we learned from it.

On the USA's second quarter:
We had more energy. We knew what we had to do, and, obviously, you are going to do whatever it takes to win. We knew that Canada was a great team, and they are a big team. We just had to turn it up on the defensive end, which eventually led to offense. We just kind of had to put it all together.

Do you think it was tough to adjust to today's pace after the fast-pace game yesterday against South Korea?
Diamond was talking about how on the U19 team last year, how Canada slowed the game down. And that's what they did tonight, they slowed the game down, which isn't necessarily our game. A lot of our game is getting up and down the floor, like the game we played last night. But a lot of the game is about adjustments, and we had to make some tonight. I think we ended up doing what we had to do.

On the USA's defense:

Diamond DeShields (Norcross H.S./Norcross, Ga.)
On the game:
We just had to grind it out. It's one of those things where if you start off slow, you just have to fight your way out of it until things start working out for you.

On 20 points in the first half:
For me, I think it started with taking good shots, and when they started falling, I just kept shooting. And my team had enough confidence to keep feeding me the ball.

Did your five steals turn into easy points and help get you started?
Steals always allow for a transition game, and transition is what I do best. So, having said that, I was able to get a couple of lay ups and help get the team some momentum.

Do you think it was tough to adjust to today's pace after the fast-pace game yesterday against South Korea?
It was an adjustment. After the game last night, I had told my everyone how Canada is going to slow us down, because the loss we took last year in the U19 World Championship was to Canada, and that's exactly what they did, they slowed us down. So, I was ready for it. That first quarter, we were still trying to make that adjustment, and I think we did a good job.

Do you think this game will help you prepare for future games?
I feel like tonight's game was more realistic. I don't think anyone plays like Korea does. So, we had to run our sets more, defensively we had to help off a little more. And they rebounded amazingly. I just feel like it was more realistic as far as the rest of our games go.

On the USA's defense:
I think we did a good job on defense. We knew they had one player especially who is a pretty good shooter, and I thought we did a good job containing her. But on the defensive boards, on the other hand, we didn't do so great. I never felt like we made the adjustment we needed to on the boards. We were all surprised when coach told us in the locker room that we had outrebounded them.

Taya Reimer (Hamilton Southeastern H.S./Fishers, Ind.)
On the USA's second quarter:
We talked through it. We didn't warm up very well, so coach kind of got us back into it, and Diamond was a spark. Obviously, she did so well, and we all just kind of fed off of that.

On the USA's defense:
It started off not so great. The biggest thing we wanted to focus on this game was rebounding. They didn't shoot very well from the field, so the shots they took were what they were and we started to control the boards a little better latter in the game.

Do you think it was tough to adjust to today's pace after the fast-pace game yesterday against South Korea?
We only ran one set yesterday, and then to come into this type of game where we ran all of our sets, it was a lot different. I think that will help us. Yesterday was shooting lay ups and pushing the ball up the floor. Today we had to run through things and play together as a team, so that was good for us.

On the USA's depth:
We have 12 girls who are great players. Yesterday it was Becca (Greenwell), and today it was Diamond (DeShields). So, it's just really who is hitting shots or who is getting steals.

Brianna Turner (Manvel H.S./Pearland, Texas)
On the game:
I thought we came out shaky in the beginning, but we picked it up and we played the basketball we know how to play. We pushed the ball, and we got rebounds, and that helped us get going.

On the USA's defense:
Canada didn't shoot very well, and I think it was a combination of things. They weren't hitting shots and we were getting a hand in their face to contest.