Additional Quotes >> USA 69, Spain 46
July 31, 2011 • Puerto Montt, Chile
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Jennifer Rizzotti (University of Hartford), USA head coach
Opening statement:
I’m very excited to be standing up here as the gold medal winner. I don’t think I realized it until I arrived here and saw our competition, how difficult this tournament would be to win. Our play early in the tournament was inconsistent and we had to rely so much on individual talent. We didn’t play as a team. But, I’m very happy to see that after these three weeks, our team was able to come together and play its best basketball in the final two games. I feel like we learned a lot from all of the teams here, especially a team like Spain, who out of everybody here plays the best team basketball at both ends of the court. We learned a lot from Brazil, who plays with more passion than any other team here. We just need to put all of that together, the team basketball that Spain plays and the passion like Brazil plays and I thought that our team was able to do that tonight. That’s why we won the gold medal.
On the team’s improvement from Orlando through today:
I feel like the players, even the team we started the tournament with and the team we finished with today is so different. They really learned to play together and play unselfishly, gel on defense and they became very coachable. I feel very fortunate to have a chance to work with these girls because they overcame the thought that they could win as individuals and found a way to win as a team.
Listen to more from Rizzotti here!
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Sue Semrau (Florida State University),
USA assistant coach
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Joi Williams (University of Central Florida),
USA assistant coach
Click here for Williams audio.
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Jordan Adams
(Mater Dei High School/Irvine, Calif.)
You’re now a two-time world champion, does it get old winning gold medals?
Never. Never can it get old. It’s just as exciting as the first time, that feeling of winning gold, with everyone screaming for you, you’re holding your teammates hand and wearing that heavy medal around your neck, there’s nothing like it. You can’t buy this feeling.
How much has your game grown over the past few weeks?
USA Basketball teaches you that you’re not the star. It teaches you to humble yourself, definitely. You find different aspects of your game besides scoring that you didn’t think that you had.
How much did it help having seven of you back from the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship?
It helps a lot. We didn’t have to start over with the team chemistry. We had the returning players from the 18s, which is nice. We spent so much time together last year during training camp, we already meshed, so we won that battle.
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Cierra Burdick
(Butler High School/Matthews, N.C.)
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Diamond DeShields
(Norcross High School/Norcross, Ga.)
Click here for DeShields audio.
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Stefanie Dolson
(University of Connecticut/Slate Hill, N.Y.)
How does it feel to win a U19 World Championship gold medal?
It feels amazing. Last year was an experience of a lifetime because that was qualifying for here. Then winning the world championship gold medal is so surreal. Getting up there, getting the gold around your neck, it’s a moment you’ll never forget. It feels great.
Looking back at the loss to Canada, how much did that help you refocus for the medal round?
It helped immensely. It helped us regain our focus. It made us realize that if you don’t go out there and play your best game, we could very easily lose and that every team is going to play their best against us. So, losing lit a fire under our butt and made us feel like that’s what it feels like to lose. You don’t ever want to feel that again, so it helped us a lot.
How much did you grow as a player and how much will it help you next season at Connecticut?
I think I’ve grown a lot. I had a rough couple of games, not finishing around the rim and stuff. It helped me focus on my individual skills and playing with the team, too. Being able to play with Kaleena (Mosqueda-Lewis), who’s coming in this year and Bria (Hartley), it helped me, personally and definitely will help the three of us for next year.
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Bria Hartley
(University of Connecticut/North Babylon, N.Y.)
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Malina Howard
(Twinsburg H.S. / Twinsburg, Ohio)
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Alexis Jones
(MacArthur High School/Irving, Texas)
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Ariel Massengale
(Bolingbrook High School/Bolingbrook, Ill.)
Opening Statement
I want to give credit to Spain. They played a great game tonight. I’m just grateful of how my teammates came out to play. We were really focused tonight. We’ve been on this journey for three weeks and all of it paid off tonight in the gold medal game. We had a great coaching staff to top it all off.”
How does it feel to have this gold medal?
It feels amazing! Just looking back from where we started at, to see where we came from, it’s just a great team.
On breaking the assist record:
That was my role on the team, to push the tempo. Coach said that every time I got in the lane it made a lot of things easier for my teammates. I was just glad they were there catching and finishing.
How did it feel when you heard you were on the all-tournament team?
It felt great, because I really wasn’t expecting it. It’s really not about all the scoring or blocked shots or whatnot, it’s just about playing your role, playing hard and giving all you’ve got every time you step on the court.
How much will this help you next season?
It’s going to help me a lot. Just building my confidence and knowing where we stand against the rest of the world in competition. Getting back home, I’m always wanting to get better and improve on my game.
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Kaleena Mosqueda- Lewis
(Mater Dei H.S. / Anaheim, Calif.)
Click here for Mosqueda-Lewis audio.
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Breanna Stewart
(Cicero North Syracuse High School/North Syracuse, N.Y.)
What was it like to win your third gold medal in a row?
It’s a great feeling. It’s wonderful to play for your country like this and to win the gold medal is great.
Were you surprised to hear your name called to the All-U19 World Championship Team?
I was, actually. I didn’t think I played that great in my last two games, but I thought I played pretty well in the rest of the tournament.
How has the team come together over the last month?
We’ve gotten a lot better on the court, off the court, and more comfortable with each other. We just created a lot of chemistry and you could see it tonight.
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Morgan Tuck
(Bolingbrook High School/Bolingbrook, Ill.)
How does it feel to win another gold medal?
It feels really great. It’s a feeling that you only get once or twice in a lifetime. It’s a great feeling.
How was the team able to come together and play like you did tonight?
Everybody’s on the same page. Everyone’s focused. We’ve been working for three weeks strong. Everybody just knew that this was our goal and we had to play great to get it.
How did you improve over the last couple of weeks?
I learned how to take a new role with a different team. It’s way different from high school where you might be the star player. Here, you have to take on a different role and I think that’s what I’ve learned the most.
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Elizabeth Williams
(Princess Anne High School/Virginia Beach, Va.)
Click here for Williams audio.
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