Additional Quotes >> USA 84, Slovakia 60

USA Head Coach Doug Bruno
On the game tonight:
I think we were more focused defensively tonight and more into passing lanes, but that also is function of who we are playing. This was not an easy team by any stretch of the imagination but it was an easier matchup for us. Tonight our bench gave us a very nice lift. That was important because Monica Wright got into foul trouble, so Angie Bjorklund comes in and injects us with some points and did a good job defensively. Italee Lucas also did a good job off the bench as well, and so did Melissa Lechlinter.

Allyssa DeHaan is going to be vital to our success, but tonight was one of those games where they were a smallish line up and we wanted to stay in man rather than zone. The bench overall was better, but we still need some consistent play from our inside game. We need to get somebody else besides Jantel scoring inside.

On advancing to the quarterfinals:
I think we are as far along as we can be at this juncture. We're going to have to play a very good and well coached Czech Republic team on Friday. They're a quick team and they run the floor, and yet the are also very effective in their half court execution. We really have a lot of work to do, and now it's one-and-out time.

Vicki Baugh
On the game tonight:
I knew we had the game under control from the beginning. They were a slower team, and we were able to control the pace of the game.

On the team:
We are definitely overcoming some adversity on the defensive end. We are not getting any calls. Other teams can foul us in a way that we can't foul them. It's an adjustment, but we are getting over it.

On advancing to the quarterfinals:
I think we are ready to face whatever team comes our way, I just think we can't play down to other team's levels. It's all up to us. Individually, we all need to come into every game focused.

Angie Bjorklund
On tonight's game:
I think we came out and took care of business. Our energy was up, and we played as a team. We are a deep bench and our players coming of the bench and our
starters all played with more intensity and focus tonight.

On advancing to the quarterfinals:
Being 6-0 has definetely put us in a great position because coming in we get to play the number four seed. I think we are ready. Every single game we work towards tougher competition, and every second we are on the floor, despite what the score is, it's always a 0-0 game.

Jantel Lavender
On tonight's game:
We took our time and we weren't rushing. Coach Bruno keeps saying its a marathon not a sprint, and we took our time and executed the plays excellent tonight.

On advancing to the quarterfinals:
I'm excited. I want to go undefeated the whole tournment.

Italee Lucas
On tonight's game:
We came out hard, and we regrouped after not playing as well as we should have last night. I think we are clicking as a team now.

On advancing to the quarterfinals:
It was important for us to finish on top so we can face a number four seed instead of a number three, and we accomplished that. I think we are ready for tougher competition. All of us are beginning to understand our coach a little better, and we are continuing to get better.

Maya Moore
On tonight's game:
Yesterday we were jacking up early shots we shouldn't have taken and that created opportunities for Spain. Today we controlled the tempo much better and took better care of the ball.

On advancing to the quarterfinals:
Advancing to the quarterfinals as a number one seed is very gratifying. Our first goal was to win all three game in our preliminary pool, and now we've won three game in the second round to advance as the number one seed. We've put ourselves in the perfect position to accomplish our next goal, which is the gold medal. We continue to get better every game, and I'm very confident that we will continue to rise to the occassion. The competition is going to get tougher, and so are we.

Jasmine Thomas
On tonight's game:
Controlling the tempo is something Coach Bruno has been talking about a lot, and we did a much better job of that tonight. We like to run, so we needed to understand there is a time to run and a time to execute in the halfcourt. We finally understood that tonight.

Defensively we are working on cutting down the fouls. We still put them in the bonus too early, so that's something we need to still work on. As a whole, though, we are much better defensively.

On advancing to the quarterfinals:
The competition just gets tougher from here. Even though we are playing the fourth seed, the Czech Republic will be a difficult team to beat.

Krystal Thomas
On tonight's game:
I think we did a better job tonight of playing as a team tonight. We knew that it would take a team effort and everybody had a role to play whether they were on the court or not.

I think we knew we had the game in control in the second quarter when we started to do a better job of controling the tempo and we found our rythym.

On the team's defense:
We've been working on our defensive positioning and rotation everyday in practice, and I think it showed tonight. We need to continue to rebound on the boards and talk on defense.

On advancing to the quarterfinals:
We have said from the beginning we had two immediate goals, to win one at a time, three times in a row in both the preliminary and second rounds. Now we've got the first seed so we'll play a lesser opponent to open quarterfinals, and it sets us up better to reach the gold medal game. I know, we are ready for tougher competition.