Connecticut Sun center and former UConn star Tina Charles had 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead the U.S. to an 81-56 win over Croatia in the Olympic opener for both teams.

Croatia, which lost to the U.S. by 54 points just seven days ago, struggled to pull away from a pesky Croatia squad. The four-time defending Olympic champions led by just three points at halftime and six points heading into the fourth quarter before a spark off the bench by Angel McCoughtry allowed the U.S. to pull away.

McCoughtry finished with 13 points while Candace Parker (11 points and 13 rebounds) and Tamika Catchings (10 points) also scored in double figures.

Charles and fellow former UConn stars Diana Taurasi (eight points) and Sue Bird (five points, five assists) all started for the U.S. team which is coached by UConn's Geno Auriemma.

Asjha Jones, one of six former Huskies on the squad, was the only player not to see action for the U.S. Auriemma said it was merely a case of Jones being sore and opting to rest her.


"Asjha is just a little bit sore," Auriemma said. "They were on their feet a long time last night.  I figured out I would give her some time off. "


The U.S., which extended their Olympic winning streak to 34 games, will continue pool play against Angola on Monday.

Here are more quotes from Auriemma, Bird, Charles, Swin Cash and Maya Moore courtesy of the folks at USA Basketball.

Geno Auriemma

On tonight’s game
Playing in the Olympics is completely different than playing in any other competition.   We had an opportunity at the beginning of the game when Croatia had a very difficult time scoring.  We had an opportunity there to really open a big lead and we didn’t take advantage of that.  Like a good team, Croatia came back and actually ended up taking the lead against us.   I think that’s to be expected at these games.   You don’t go into any game thinking (you're going to win because) you’re the United States or just because you’re ranked #1 in the world and somebody else isn’t.  So, we’re not surprised at all by how well Croatia played.  We’re not surprised at all about the fact that it was a close game for 30-some minutes.   But, we got better as the game went on.  We kept improving as the game went on and for our team, that’s really important because we haven’t had a lot of time together.   One of the things we want to do is keep improving every game and improving during the course of the game.  We did that.   Again, we have 10 or 11 players that can come off the bench or start and I think that may have been the difference.   I think the Croatia team might have got a little bit tired towards the end of the game because they don’t have the depth that we do.  It’s one of the advantages of the United States.   We have good players but we have more of them.  Tonight I thought that was the difference in the game.
Angel McCoughtry seemed to really spark things in the second half especially defensively.  What did you see from her and the juice she gave that group?
One thing we talked about before the tournament started, whatever your role is, whatever you’re really good at, you need to be great at that for our team and Angel’s a fantastic defender especially off the ball.  So she makes things happen.  That second team we had out there was able to not only give us energy which they did but I think they made it difficult (for Croatia).   I think what that second team did made it possible for when that first group came back, I think they had worn down the Croatian team a little bit.   Angel was a big, big part of that.  She’s one of the quickest players in the world.   When she’s going to the basket or she’s on defense in the passing lanes, there aren’t very many people better than her.
Were you disappointed at all to only be up four a few minutes into the fourth quarter?
I don’t think you can be disappointed at this level.   There’s a lot of really good teams and when you’re playing in a place for the very first time … we have five players that have never been in the Olympics before.  They’re going to be a little bit nervous, everybody’s going to be a little bit nervous but shooting the ball in a brand new venue like this is not going to be easy.  I think you’re going to see a lot of really bad shooting percentages early on in the tournament.   I thought defensively we did a pretty good job.  If you hold a team to 56 points then you did a pretty good job defensively.   The offensive stuff:  some days it’s there, some days it’s not there.   We’re better than we showed but I don’t know that we are going to be great right off the bat.
What was halftime like?  Did you make a lot of adjustments or sense any panic with any of your players?
No.   Like Tina said, they’ve been in this situation a lot.  When you’re a professional basketball player, you have to be prepared to play the game the way it’s being played.  We said before the game started, we’re not going to win the gold medal or lose the gold medal in game one.  You’re not going to win the game or lose the game in the first half.  The adjustments we made were how we were going to guard the pick and roll.   The adjustments were how we were going to play defense moreso than what we were going to do on offense because I knew our offense was going to be OK eventually.   Eventually we were going to make some shots.  Eventually we were going to get our offensive going.  We just made a couple of adjustments defensively on how we were going to guard it.   We made a conscious decision to make sure we used that second group and they came in and did a great job.  That’s basically the only adjustments we made.
On the pressure on the coach to win with a team like the US?
I don’t think it’s about me.   If I was playing, I would feel a lot more pressure because I’m not that good.   So the fact that the players are playing, I don’t feel the pressure myself except when I’m away from the game a little bit and thinking about it.  But, I don’t let that bother me during the day or when I’m with my team or anything like that.  Someday, maybe Monday, maybe Wednesday, maybe Friday, maybe Sunday, who knows, the US is going to lose a game in the Olympics.   That’s just the way the world works.   If it’s me coaching that team, I’ll be disappointed for the players if that were to happen.   I don’t think that’ll effect my life that much.  But, I’ll be disappointed for the players.  I’ll be disappointed for the first-year players that are on this team that have never gotten a gold medal because they want one so desperately.   As long as I keep the focus based on that, then the pressure’s there, whether you worry about it or not.   It’s like you know you know you have a dentist appointment in two weeks, what are you going to do, worry about it every day for two weeks?   On that morning when you wake up, you’re going to worry about it.   I don’t want to worry about what might happen Monday, Wednesday, Friday, whatever.

Sue Bird

Was the team nervous tonight with it being its first game?
I don’t think that nervous is the right word. I think as a team Croatia played a great game and you have to take your hat off to them. But as a team I don’t think we played our best. We have a lot of individuals who have high standards, as individuals and as a team, and when we weren’t playing up to that what you saw was a little bit of disappoint on all of our faces. But we knew, we knew in the second half we just had to stay with it, stay with it and eventually it would turn around and it did.
Are you satisfied with the game?
A win is a win in the Olympics; you’ve got to be satisfied.
Not the start you envisioned?
No, to be honest I didn’t really envision anything. I think there was probably a little jitters; probably a little sluggishness if you will; but for the most part we just didn’t finish off plays we normally finish off and we allowed a team that when they get going can really get going. They’re known to kind of spread out the floor and try and hit as many threes as they can. When we didn’t put them away early they got back into the game that way. But in the second half we knew we just had to stay with it and the shots we normally make would go in and hopefully we would be able to wear them down.

Swin Cash

On the team’s 21 turnovers:
A lot of it is our offensive flow. When we get familiar with each other, some of those turnovers will cut back. But in an environment like this, where we’re still trying to build that chemistry throughout this tournament, you’re going to get some of those turnovers. With a point guard like Sue Bird and putting the ball in her hands, I feel good that a lot of the turnovers will cut down.
On the spark off the bench:
It’s one of those things where we feel like we’re the deepest team in this tournament. We have the ability to really stretch the floor and get some pressure full court. That’s our game. We have a very athletic team, a very versatile team and we try to utilize all of our strengths. Like I said, we have a lot to work on.
What’s the biggest area that needs improvement?
One, take care of your body. That’s what’s first. Second, we just need to watch video because a lot of times you can learn the game without going so much on the practice court, getting really familiar with things, seeing how the offense works the floor.

Tina Charles

On tonight’s game:
This was my first time so it was really exciting and kind of nerve-wracking for  myself but I think my teammates and I kept our composure out there. Croatia played great.  They came back.  They didn’t settle when they were down.   They started making their shots.   Overall, it was a great game but I think in the second half, we turned it up and we were aggressive coming out and we just had a point to prove.   We came out and we got the win.
Was there anything in particular you noticed you could do to exploit the Croatia defense?
I know we definitely were trying to play an inside-out game.   Sylvia, Candace and I need to do a better job of finishing around the basket but Coach definitely wanted us to point an emphasis on getting the ball inside and executing plays, just trying to limit turnovers and get on the offensive boards.  So that was one thing he said at halftime, to definitely get on the offensive boards.   Tamika Catchings did a great job doing that.
Were you deterred at all when they made it a game before halftime?
No.  We’re pros and we’ve all been in these positions before, whether it be with our teams back home or in college.  I think everybody that came across us as players definitely prepared us for these type of games.  Having captains do it like Sue Bird and Tamika Catchings talking to us has given us that force to go out there and keep it on and just keep playing through it.  Everything is not going to be because we’re Team USA, we’re going to blow people out.  Everybody’s going to come out and play us hard.
What were your thoughts on last night’s Opening Ceremonies?
It was epic.   I think that’s the best word I can use.   It was definitely an epic moment for me … something I’ll never forget.  I think it goes along with winning a national championship when I was playing at UConn.  It’s just a feeling that you can’t describe.   It just showed … all these past years just came down to that one night.   That definitely was the cherry on top for everything I’ve been through.  Just that one night.

Maya Moore
On playing in her first Olympic game:
The first thing we noticed was the atmosphere. So many people came and were excited to watch us play. It was a good feeling being in the arena. So that was a really good way to start. I’m glad that we were able to work through some things today. Hopefully the way we finished the game will build the momentum for our next game.
Do you think there were a lot of first game jitters?
I don’t think we have jitters at this point. It’s just that sometimes we’re a little off. It happened a few times on the offensive end and especially defensively. For the most part we held them to a pretty low number of points. They’re great shooters as well and when we left them a little bit of space they knocked them in. So, there are a few things we can take from this, as far as our defense and how we’re going to guard screens. Offensively we just need to keep going, because we know we can score.