Additional Quotes >> USA 82, Russia 38

July 17, 2010 • Rodez, France

Barbara Nelson
(USA and Wingate University head coach)
On tonight's game:
Today I felt like the first half, they really controlled the tempo. Russia did a great job of controlling the game and controlling the tempo and forcing us to play how they wanted to play. In the second half we tried to work really hard at playing our style, and we had some success a little bit early in the third quarter, which kind of fed our confidence a little bit.

On the USA waiting to take a lead until the second half:
We have a good bench, and so we can afford for players to get a rest, so that they can come in. It just seems that we have a different player come in everyday and make big runs for us. Today it was several different ladies, we had Elizabeth, (who) obliviously played very well. We had Morgan Tuck play very well, and we had Ariel Massengale play really well offensively in getting us together and getting up and down the court. When we run we are certainly at our best. When we defend well, we are certainly at our best. When we don't defend well, it affects our offense. When we play great defense, it fuels our offense. And so I think the third quarter, we played really hard on defense and played really well on defense, and it turned it into offense.

Jewell Loyd
(Niles West H.S./Lincolnwood, IL)
Do you notice a change in your team when the defense picks up?
Americans like to compete, and that's what this team does. And when everyone is on the same page it just gets everyone going, and we get rolling and we become deadly.

On the USA's chemistry:
Everyone is becoming a team, and that's what we need to be to win this thing.

Imani Stafford
(Winward H.S./Los Angeles, CA)
On tonight's game:
We could have performed better. We came out unprepared, not focused, and that is something that is going to catch up to us when we play a better team. That's something we need to work on. But we have heart so we fought back, and we made sure it was our game and we won with authority.

The way the USA played in the second half, is that the team you want to be?
The way we played in the second half, that's the team we need to be for four quarters. That team is defense. We get our stops on defense, and we win by defense. Our defense fuels our offense.

How are you holding up physically?
I not going to lie, I'm tired, but we will rest up and tomorrow hopefully come out with more focus.

Do you think there is an opponent who can shut down the USA's inside game?
If we stayed focused, I don't see anyone stopping us inside. Our post game is our bread and butter.

Morgan Tuck
(Bolingbrook H.S./Bolingbrook, IL)
Has this team formed an identity as an inside team and is that a good thing?
I think we have identified ourselves as an inside team because we have very strong post players that can finish well. And that's a great thing. If a team doubles down, then we can always kick it out, and we have great shooters, too.

On tonight's game:
I think today we just weren't focused coming in in warm-ups, and that translated over into the game. So, we just have to have a good warm-up and be more focused, and then I think we'll start out better.

Is this team tired at all?
I don't really think that we are tired. If someone's tired, they are pretty good at getting us a rest. I think tonight it was just not being focused and not taking it as serious as we should have.

What were some of the positives in tonight's game?
The posts are working very hard, running the floor and finishing. In the beginning, we weren't finishing that well, but we were still working hard. After halftime, everybody played hard, especially on defense, which helps our offense. We just played harder in the second half.

Elizabeth Williams
(Princess Anne H.S./Virginia Beach, VA)
On tonight's game:
I think in the first half we missed a lot of easy shots, especially when in the beginning. We didn't come out with the same aggressiveness as our past game, but definitely after halftime in the third quarter, we just picked everything up defensively and offensively.