Additional Quotes >> USA 114, Canada 57

July 18, 2010 • Rodez, France

Barbara Nelson
(USA and Wingate University head coach)
On tonight's game:
I thought the first half was a big battle. I felt like Canada really hit a lot of tough shots. They spread their scoring around, which made it a little more difficult for us to defend, and I felt like they played extremely hard. Since we've come back together, I think (today) is the first time we have played really hard for 40 minutes and haven't had a lot of lapses, so I'm pleased with the effort for 40 minutes, pleased with the focus.

A couple of girls who have been struggling with their shooting found their shot today, which was very important for us. So, we're pretty pleased about that, that we were able to spread the scoring around a little more.

On the USA's solid start in transition:
I don't think it was anything different, other than when Ariel Massengale really pushes, everybody responds. When Kaleena hits shots, it really opens the bigs even more, and when the bigs play well together, then we've got very long, inside players, so I think it can make that difficult. We really tried to focus on defense ... We made a little change in the lineup, went a little longer. Fields has been scoring points in truckloads. I mean she has just been pouring it on, and we wanted to slow her up today. She opened up with two threes that surprised us, and we had to come out a little more, which then makes her even more deadly off the dribble.

But I think for us offensively, when we play well on defense and we can get some baskets from that and get some energy from that, it seems to allow our offense to flow.

On Lewis' shooting:
Kaleena really focused on defense today instead of worrying about her offense. She has been so caught up in her offense that she'd kind of let her defense go, and when she played really hard on defense it gave her an opportunity to get in a rhythm offensively.

Jordan Adams
(Mater Dei H.S./Irvine, CA)
How much does defense key this U.S. offense?
We get the ball back from defense after stops, and we get steals on defense. You can try and outscore a team, but stops win games. Defense wins game.

Did you feel like this team put together 40 solid minutes tonight?
I believe we tried. I think that we talked really well. We had a lot of focus on defense and on offense, and the offense just came to us.

On the USA's shooting:
I think just the shots we get up in practice. Coach has been stressing, 'hold your shot, hold your shot.' Kaleena was just letting it fly, and it was going in.

Is there any danger of this team becoming complacent?
No. I don't think so.

Bashaara Graves
(Clarksville H.S./Clarksville, TN)
On tonight's game:
I think we played like a team. We always played like a team, but we played more like a team today than we ever have.

On the USA's shooting:
I think our inside shooting and our outside shooting were great, and it just made game even better.

How much fun was tonight?
It was very fun. Getting to 100 was like amazing, and we didn't even know we had 100 points during the game. It was great winning together.

Is there still room for improvement on this team?
There is always room for improvement, so I think we can still improve. Everything can get better at least a little bit.

How is the chemistry on this team?
I think we have great chemistry. We do everything as a team. We eat as a team. We hang out as a team. Everything is about teamwork, on the court and off the court.

Kaleena Lewis
(Mater Dei H.S./Anaheim, CA)
On shooting 5-of-6 from 3-point:
The past couple of games haven't been that great for me, but coach was just telling me that I have to find my rhythm on defense and maybe start in a little closer, so I tried to do that today and it seemed to work. Our whole team scored a lot today. The posts were playing great. They were getting out and running, and Jewell Loyd also had a great shot today.

Bria Smith
(Christ the King H.S./Massapequa, NY)
How is the chemistry on this team?
I think our chemistry today was very good. I feel like the defense really got us more energized and closer to how we are supposed to play according to coach, so I feel like our defense helped us have a boatload of energy and start strong.

On the USA's shooting:
I think just practicing our shooting more, having the shoot-around before the game helped us today. Our percentage in shooting this morning was pretty good, so I think that carried over into the game.

Is there any danger of this team becoming complacent?
There is no way we will get complacent. I feel like this is the start of how we are going to continue to play every game. We are going to keep on bringing our defense; we are going to keep on playing hard. The last time we beat Canada was in exhibition and we lost to Australia the game after, so I think we understand that we have to keep on pushing and keep on improving.