Additional Quotes >> U.S. Women 34, Singapore 11

Kathy Richey-Walton, U.S. Women's Head Coach
Southwest DeKalb H.S., Ga.

You weren’t exactly the fan favorite playing the host country?
Not today. I told the kids about it, and we expected that. It was fun. It’s what you expect, and you have to play through those things. I thought it was neat that we were the underdogs. Whenever they hit a basket, their fans went wild, and that’s what they should do.

Kiah’s had a great first two games so far. Was that expected?
It’s a pleasant surprise. She’s a big girl, and she realized what her strengths are. Today, she had even more confidence in going inside and banging and being physical. Now, we’ll try to get her to build on that and realize she can be a force inside.

How has the team adjusted to the style and the pace of the game?
We’re still a little slow to adjust to the style of play. I think they underestimate their ability and what we’re capable of doing. I think they’re still thinking about the five-man game as apposed to 3-on-3, so the adjustment has been a little slower than what I wanted. We’ll keep working in that direction, but it’s been a little painful right now. … I think that’s what our goal is, to get better each time out and learn from the previous game, not take any step backward. A win is a win, even if it is an ugly win. But you’d just like to see them play better.

Briyona Canty
Trenton Catholic Academy / Willingboro, N.J.

What was it like being the underdog amongst the home crowd?
It was exciting. The crowd was all for Singapore, so it was really exciting.

With Kiah and Amber down low, how do you decide when to take your shots and when to dump it in?
When I have an open lane, I take it. But if the clock’s running down and we have to score fast, I’m more concerned about getting it into the post than me taking the shot. Coach wants me to take it and keep driving because I have such a good driving game. But sometimes the shot clock runs down, and I have to get it to the post so we can score quicker.

Is it nice to have Kiah playing so well?
I love her down there. She’s like the post I never had. It’s great. With her being down there, I can always get it to her.

How have you adjusted to the style and the pace of the game?
I think we’re doing good, but we’re just trying to get a better understanding of what Coach is trying to get us to do. We’ve focused on plays, but now we just gotta go out and play and just try to have fun with it. It’s taking a little bit to get used to it, but I think tomorrow we’ll get better.

Amber Henson
Sickles H.S. / Tampa, Fla.

Was the win against the host country as easy as the final score made it look?
Actually, when the game was over and I saw the score, it didn’t feel like it. Singapore’s the home team, and they came out real hard. They played as tough as they could, and we got frustrated a few times and had to keep our composure and keep playing. They really fought out there. It was a tough game, even thought the score looks otherwise. It was a really tough game.

Did you use the crowd as motivation?
Yeah every time they did something good, it was the loudest I’ve heard the stadium so far. When we did anything, it was quite. Some of our fans were here cheering us on, but you really couldn’t hear it. It was really motivational. We just wanted to quiet them.

Do you and Kiah together give you big advantage in the post?
We have a huge advantage in the post. Kiah, she’s doing really well finishing around the basket. Me and Kiah, we’re both post players, but we’re different types of post players. I’m more of a face-up kind of player, and she’s more of a low post, body-you-up kind of player, and that’s really been working well for her. Her style of play is really great against these teams.

How have you adjusted to the style and pace of the game so far?
We’ve been working at it a lot. I think we know the rules a lot better than any of the other teams, just from working on it so much in practice. But in practice, we’d always have these sets. We’d work on this play and this play, but it’s come to a point where Coach said, ‘You just have to go out and play and use your instincts,’ because there’s no time to set anything up.