Greetings from Chile! Coach Rizzotti and Team USA Win Opening Game

The conditions here have been less than ideal, to say the least. It's cold and rainy and none of the practice gyms have any heat. The kids have been troopers seeing as we've had to practice some days in full sweats and hats. We had two "friendly" games against Russia and Australia to get us ready for the tournament and for future competition. But there is nothing like putting on the uniforms for real like we did this afternoon.

We opened up the U19 World Championships with Japan today at 1:30 pm. There were some good things - we killed them inside (but that wasn't too difficult since there average height was 5'7"), and we spread the scoring around very well. Bria Hartley showed she was a college player by leading us in scoring but more importantly, with her competitiveness. We also had some rough spots. Japan was able to expose us on defense. They are very fast and perimeter oriented so it was a tough match up for some of our posts. But we will face other teams in the tournament that are small and quick so we'll need to find a solution. We also did a poor job boxing out and Japan was quicker to the ball.

Our goal here is clear … we want to win a gold medal. But how we perform and play together are equally important to me. We just need to continue to improve every day and learn to play as a team on both ends of the floor. I look forward our next challenge, Russia, tomorrow at 1:30 pm! Go USA!