U.S. Women 30, Angola 8 >> Additional Quotes

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

Was getting the ball inside the philosophy you always had, even going back to training?
No, it wasn’t. But they were small, so I did go a little big with Kiah and Amber. Once we realized they didn’t have an answer for both of them at the same time, we just pounded it away, and they couldn’t stop it.

Is your post play an advantage you’ve been counting on?
Definitely, but I was concerned about another team’s quickness. I was worried that we’d be so big that we couldn’t guard a team that’s quicker. But we’re diverse enough that we can go big or quick.

How did the girls adjust to the speed and tempo of the game?
I think that’s one of the things we can get better at. We were a little tentative and missed some opportunities. I kind of expected that, with this being the first ever (Youth Olympic Games), the girls didn’t really have their swagger. But as we play more games, we’ll be less tentative and more aggressive. Today, I think they just wanted to play well and get a win.

Andraya Carter
Buford H.S./Flowery Branch, Ga

What was working for you guys?
Kiah. Kiah and Amber in the post. Kiah, they couldn’t stop her. If they played behind her, we got it to her, and she scored over them. If they played in front of her, we lobbed it in, she caught it and scored. I think we played hard as a team, and Briyona was attacking the basket. I just think we played hard.

Was that the strategy, to get it inside?
Yeah, it definitely was from our end. At first, we tried to get it to the bigs, and Kiah started rolling. That was kind of a difference in the game. We were just going to keep doing what works, so we just went at that until they stopped it, which they kind of didn’t.

What do you still need to work on?
Just to keep playing hard and doing the little things. We can’t let turnovers get to us. We need to have a short-term memory and forget the last play – good or bad. The game can turn in 10 seconds. And Coach Walton keeps stressing defense, too, to lock up your man.

Kiah Stokes
Linn-Mar H.S./Marion, Iowa

How did the first game feel for you?
I felt pretty good. It was nice to get the first win, and we can only get better from here. It was fun, it was really fun. The atmosphere here is crazy, so it was good.

Did you make a point to get the ball inside?
We had a size advantage, so we tried to get it inside with me and Amber, because we had that mismatch We tried to incorporate that into our offense, and it worked well for us.

What do you think you still have to work on?
I think we have to pick up the tempo, finishing more around the basket – we missed a lot of layups, myself included. And just the little stuff, like if we pick up our defense, that’ll really help us.