Additional Quotes >> USA 93, Canada 47

July 9, 2010 • Alagon, Spain

Barbara Nelson
(USA and Wingate University head coach)
Were you pleased with what you saw in the USA's first game?
I felt like our first 30 minutes was very good, especially our defense. Canada I believe scored 50 points against us last year in the finals of the U16 qualifier, and they are a little stronger this year than they were last year. After the first three quarters, we had given up only 26 points, so I fel really, really positive about our defense. Then in the fourth quarter, the defense sort of fell apart, and that's something we will have to work on. Offensively, I thought we played really well as a team and shared the ball. We had a lot of different girls get shots, and I felt like we even missed a lot of easy shots, which is something we will also clean up.

Was there anything about this team that surprised you tonight?
I felt like we had more unforced turnovers than we should have had. The box score lists 11, but I think we had more than that. There was not a tremendous amount of pressure put on us once the ball left the point guard. Canada did a good job of putting pressure on our point guard, but that wasn't where our turnovers were coming from. We were a little loose with the ball tonight.

The USA shot 16-of-27 from the line (59.3 percent) does that worry you headed into the World Championship next week?
It's harder to shoot free throws in a close game, so as the games get tighter free-throw percentage usually goes down. We were pretty poor tonight, so if it goes down, we will be dismal. That is something we have to improve.

Cierra Burdick
(Butler H.S./Matthews, NC)
You had 14 rebounds tonight. Was that something you were focused on?
I always try to rebound, and my role on this team is partly to rebound and hit the boards hard. So, I tried to play my role well, and I feel like I did what coach asked me to do tonight. Hopefully, I can keep it up though the rest of our games.

Did you think the USA came out ready to play?
The way we came out was expected. We finished a little sloppy, but I guess that was a little bit of fatigue and the fact that we were up so much hit us mentally. But I feel confident in the way we played today.

In what areas does this team need to improve?
Rebounding as a team, I think we should get better at. The unforced turnovers really hurt us, so we are going to have to tighten that up as we play more compeition.

Did this team execute the game plan?
Yeah, we did. We run our sets everyday in practice for at least an hour, and we did that again this morning in shoot around. So, we expected to execute, and we were happy with the result and everybody did what they were supposed to do.

Do you know what to expect from Australia tomorrow?
We hear they are good. We hear they are one of the better teams. I just saw them walk out of the locker room, and they look pretty big. So, we are going to have to be big on the inside, and our guards will have to be big too.

With three games in three days coming up, do you think fatigue could be a factor?
We are going to have to stay off of our legs, definitely, and keep hydrating. It's hot in the gym, so we will need to take good care of ourselves.

Kaleena Lewis
(Mater Dei H.S./Anaheim, CA)
Do you think the team came ready to play tonight?
I've seen us play a lot quicker and come out a lot faster in practices, so I think today we didn't come out with as much intensity as we could have. We kind of waited for Canada to hit us in the mouth, and then we woke up.

Do you think the USA put together a complete game?
Until the fourth quarter, I think we played hard. The fourth quarter came, and we kind of just let them score. It was kind of back and forth, and then at the end it was 26-20 in the fourth period, so coach wasn't really happy with the effort at the end.

Was this what you expected from the USA in its first game?
I know we can play a lot better, but I think we did pretty good. I know with this group of girls, we can play a lot better than we did tonight.

Do you expect a lot of growth in the next two exhibition games?
Definitely. I think once we start getting more games in, we are going to grow. This one game helped us a lot, and we've got two more before we start playing in the World Championship.

How did it feel to finally hit the court?
It was a lot of fun. After all of those practices and running, it's fun to actually play a game against a different team than the people you have been practicing against.

Breanna Stewart
(Cicero-North Syracuse H.S./North Syracuse, NY)
On tonight's game:
I thought tonight's game was in the making of a complete game. We could have done better.

What are some of the areas in which this team needs to improve?
We need to have less turnovers, and we need to make our free throws.

Do you think the team came ready to play tonight?
Yeah, I think we were ready to play. I mean, we have been practicing for a week, and it is nice to get a chance to play.

How did it feel to finally hit the court?
It was exciting. It was the first time we were actually playing, and we had a fairly big crowd in the gym.

Do you know what to expect from Australia tomorrow?
I have no idea what to expect from Australia. I think they will probably be good shooters because a lot of international teams are, but other than that, I don't know.

Morgan Tuck
(Bolingbrook H.S./Bolingbrook, IL)
Have you been working on your outside shooting?
I have been working on my outside shooting, going back to before tryouts. I don't really like the post as much, and I wanted to play a wing, so I had to work on those skills.

Did you feel your first 3-pointer was going in?
I knew I was open, so I shot it, and it just happened to go in. On the second shot I was more confident because I had just hit one, so I was just hoping that one was going in to.

Elizabeth Williams
(Princess Anne H.S./Virginia Beach, VA)
Did this team execute the game plan?
I think we came out strong, especially defensivley. I think just because coach has us so defensively minded, but in the fourth quarter, with a big lead, we kind of slacked off. But overall, I think we played how we expected to play.

What did coach tell you at halftime, when you already had a big lead?
Coach told us to stay focused and continue to play our best, not to worry about the score. She told us to be aware of it, but at the same time, don't relax and not play our best.

Do you know what to expect from Australia tomorrow?
We haven't heard too much about them, but I know that they are big. I think we are just going to have to work with our size and continue to play really hard, especially defensively.

How did it feel to finally hit the court?
It felt good. We have eight returners from 2009, so it was pretty easy to blend together. The new girls on the team played really well, and I think we have bonded pretty well.