Additional Quotes >> USA 82, Brazil 66

July 30, 2011 • Puerto Montt, Chile

Jennifer Rizzotti (University of Hartford), USA head coach
On today’s game:
Obviously we’re very excited about advancing onto the gold medal game. But, the win was bittersweet because we had to beat Brazil to get there. We have a lot of respect for Brazil. We forged relationships with them last year in Colorado Springs. We played them a few times this year and we have a lot of respect for their country, their basketball players and we brought our best tonight because we feel they are one of the best teams in the tournament.

I’m very proud of my team. Our game plan tonight was to pay a lot of attention to (Tassia De Souza) and (Damiris Dantas) and I thought our players did a really good job of making it difficult for them to score. We also wanted to win the rebounding battle, which we dominated. It’s nice to see my players play relaxed, have some fun and score some points offensively. I feel like they’re very young and they’ve been very nervous the last few rounds. Tonight we finally played like ourselves.

You kept attacking, shooting the open shots and running. Spain is a brilliant half-court team, can you do what you did tonight again tomorrow night?
We hope so. Our team has learned a lot in the two weeks that we’ve been here. We’ve not only watched ourselves a lot on film, but we’ve watched other teams. We’ve talked about our body language and not allowing it to ever look negative. I thought we did a great job of keeping our composure tonight when Brazil went to more of a box-and-one on Bria (Hartley). We had other players step up and knock down some pretty big shots. That’s what makes the United States so hard to guard. She can score 20 points in the first half and we can have other people step up and score in the second half.

Bria Hartley scored 20 points in the first half, but none in the second:
We used our depth to our advantage. It’s nice to have Kaleena (Mosqueda-Lewis) in the game because she has no fear. She’s 0-for-5 in the first half and then comes out 3-for-4. She never worries about missed shots. We were able to pick up the slack and find a way to score without her.

You’ve played Brazil a lot compared to the other teams here. Did you do anything different, what was your game plan tonight?
We did play them in zone, which they may have seen last night when we played France. But, we hadn’t played them in zone for entire games. We prepared a little bit more for what they were going to do to us defensively. It allowed our kids to relax a little bit on the offensive end. Obviously when Bria hit those shots early, I felt like it really opened things up on the inside.

On the USA’s depth and different firepower:
It’s what makes it difficult to guard us. You can go box-and-one on one of our players, but it exposes you with the other four guys on the floor. I’m just really proud because I feel like every player really stepped up and made a big play today. It wasn’t just necessarily our offense. It might have been a shot here or there, but some guys came in and made great defensive rotations or got big rebounds. I felt that everybody did their part to help us get a win.

On Spain, the USA’s gold medal opponent:
The thing about Spain is we need to try to fight the tempo they want to set, which is a half-court game. They run the shot clock all the way down to two or three before they take a shot. Then defensively, they’re very smart. They try not to give you anything quick. They play really good together as a team on both ends of the floor. Therefore, their games are really low scoring. We need to force the issue. We had that problem when we played Canada, where we allowed it to become a half court game. We need to do a better job this time around of making sure we can get it into a full court game.

Cierra Burdick
(Butler High School/Matthews, N.C.)
On today’s game:
Brazil comes out and plays with a lot of pride. So, we knew we had to play with the same amount of pride as them. I thought they played well. We just happened to be the better team tonight and I’m so thankful that we were, because our whole goal is to advance to the gold medal game. We just have to be prepared for tomorrow now.

Do you think Brazil was a little surprised with the energy and focus you had to start the game?
They got up on us early today. Teams have been doing that. We have to put a stop to that. But, we came out ready to play. If I was Brazil, I would be a little shocked, but I would kind of expect it as well because we are wearing USA across our chest and we’re not going to take an ‘L’ easy.

On the USA staying out of foul trouble:
We played a lot of zone and that cuts down on penetration. We weren’t reaching a lot, which really helped us. So, the game was fast paced because of the lack of fouls. We just have to keep playing with our hands straight up, defend well and slide our feet.

On the USA’s depth:
It’s got to be extremely hard to guard because you never know who’s going to be the go-to player. Tonight it was Bria (Hartley). She played hard. She hit some big threes and was our scoring option tonight. Our post players did a good job finishing, which we haven’t done as well as we would like. They have to prepare for everything we have to bring.

On shutting down Daimiris Dantas:
She was our big focus. We knew that she was the heart of their team. Coach Sue (Semrau) did a great job scouting them. Also, we were so familiar with them that we knew each player. That helped a lot, but we just tried to come off, take them off the boards and limit her shots.

Stefanie Dolson
(University of Connecticut/Slate Hill, N.Y.)
How were you able to hold Damiris Dantas to 13 points and 8 rebounds:
Defense is based around locking up all their good players. We knew their personnel, each and every one of them. She’s definitely one of their best players and we knew we had to lock her up, keep her off the boards. That was definitely a big thing. We did a really good job.

The team looked relaxed and focused, even when Brazil took the early lead:           
We went out there, they made a few shots, but one thing coach emphasized in the locker room was keeping our composure. Other teams are going to go on their runs. You have to just let them have it and then go on your run. After they made a couple shots, we came back, made a few more shots and took the lead. We built our lead up so that when they did go on their runs, we still had the lead. We just kept our composure, stayed calm and played our game.

You and Bria Hartley have played in big games like this, most recently the 2011 NCAA Final Four. Did you think about that at all?
Surprisingly not. This is definitely the same type of atmosphere, but it’s a totally different game because it’s for USA Basketball. The Final Four is great, but this is for our country and this is a little bit bigger. Either way, we knew what type of game it was, what type of game it would be. We went out there and played with the level of intensity that we needed.

On the USA’s tournament-low six fouls:
Coach was telling us before the game to play defense without fouling. She told us that Brazil had over 100 points from the line and we only had about 50. So, we knew that they’re a team that gets to the basket and gets to the free throw line. We knew we had to defend without fouling. We just went out there and played really, really solid defense. We did a really great job of it.

On Bria Hartley’s 20 points:
 I don’t know where that came from. She was shooting and I looked up and all of a sudden she had 20 points. Bria did a great job. She was knocking shots down, running the offense really well, being a leader out there. When she’s confident and feeling it, she’s going to shoot the ball and she’s going to shoot it well. That’s what she did tonight.

Bria Hartley
(University of Connecticut/North Babylon, N.Y.)
On today’s game:
I think it was a great game. Brazil came out and played really hard, they started off really strong, but we just stayed together and made sure we came out and executed on offense and got defensive stops.  In the second half we knew that Brazil was going to play hard and come out even harder. So, we made sure we could withstand their runs, come out and keep our composure.

On her 20 point-performance:
It doesn’t matter who scores. We just have to come out and run our offense and whoever’s open, takes the shot. I think our team has a lot of depth and anyone who comes in the game can score.

On Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis hitting some big shots over the last two nights:
Kaleena’s a great shooter. Every time she comes in the game, we tell her she should come in and look for her shot. So, she comes in and always hits big shots. We make sure we get her the ball.

The team looked focused and ready to play, unlike some of your more recent games. Do you think you’ve turned the corner?
Definitely. It was a big step for us. Tomorrow in the gold medal game we need to come out really strong. I think we’ll have a lot of energy. I think everybody’s really excited to play.

The USA and Brazil know each other’s personnel very well. Did you ever think they would adjust and start to exploit your weaknesses?
I didn’t really know how it was going to go. I just came out hoping for the best. Everyone came in, played their role. We had a talk with coach about what role we had to play and I think everyone played it well.

On staying out of foul trouble:
The coaches told us throughout training camp and everything that we had to focus on playing defense without fouling. It worked for us today. We were able to go out there, not pick up a lot of fouls and play our game.

On Spain, the USA’s gold medal opponent:
Spain’s been playing really well. It’s really going to be a tough game tomorrow. We just have to come out and play with a lot of heart.

Ariel Massengale
(Bolingbrook High School/Bolingbrook, Ill.)
The team came out very focused tonight, where did that come from?
It was the will to win. Now we understand that it’s either win or go home. We’re just trying to take this one game at a time, trying to play each game like it’s the gold medal game, knowing everyone’s going to go out there and give us their best shot. We just have to play every game like it’s our last.

Does it help having seven of you who have won a world championship and know what the pressure is like in the medal round?
It does. We’ve been here before. Even back in America we’ve played in big games. We’ve played in state championships. Bria (Hartley) and Stefanie (Dolson) have been to the Final Four. We all know what it takes to play under pressure and I think that helps our team a lot.

Were you a little surprised at how the USA pulled away from Brazil in the first half?
I was. I thought they would have more fight in them. I think we came out and took it away from them early. That was our goal going into the game. I felt that we stuck with our game plan through the whole game.

How were you able to shut them down?
The two-three had them rattled at the beginning. I don’t think they knew what to do against it. Offensively, we moved the ball. We passed the ball great, shared it and knocked down open shots. The post players did what they had to do. Guards got open shots. When we started knocking down shots, they started coming out on us and we just dumped it inside to the post.

How do you match-up with Spain?
Just playing USA Basketball. I feel like what we’ve done up to this point has gotten us here. We might as well keep going with it. We’ll get a good night’s rest, watch film, have a good shoot-around and be ready to play.

Elizabeth Williams
(Princess Anne High School/Virginia Beach, Va.)
What were you focused on heading into tonight’s game?
We knew that Brazil’s a really passionate team. Coach really wanted us to match their passion, just to have a lot of pride today, to know that this is a big game. It’ll get us to the gold medal game, so we had to go out there and play hard.

On locking down the tournament’s leading scorer and rebounder, Damiris Dantas:
We had a really good scouting report and we’ve seen her play a lot. We tried to keep a lot of pressure on her and contest her shots. I think we did a good job of that.

On the USA’s team play overall:
As a team we were all really focused. Even when they had that little run we were able to stick together no matter what. That helped us throughout the whole game.

On Bria Hartley’s 20 points in the first half:
That was good. That definitely was the spark that we needed. I’m glad that she started off really well.

On Spain:
It looked like everybody scored on their team in their game. If we just play solid team defense and come out with the same pa