Now the fun starts for the United States. After winning its first six games by an average of 33 points including Wednesday's 83-75 win over defending champion Australia during the two round robin stages of the FIBA World Championships, the U.S. is feeling good about themselves heading into the medal round.

"We didn't have as much practice (time) so we are trying to get better with each day and now we are excited to get ready for the medal rounds," said U.S. starting point guard Sue Bird, one of five former or current UConn players on the United States squad.

Because of conflicts with the WNBA season as well as some injury issues, U.S. coach Geno Auriemma didn't have his full team together until just before the start of the tournament so it has been a bit of a work in progress.

"It was evolved the way we hoped it would evolve," Auriemma said. "We are learning as we go along, we have to take every game and use that to get better, come out the next day and play another game. We have done that and we have improved in almost every area. We are a different team than when we were in Spain, a different team than when we were in Hartford and hopefully we'll be a better team Sunday than we were on Friday."

Much of Auriemma's time on Thursday's conference call with reporters was spent addressing two of the young phenoms in the World Championships.

Auriemma said that Australia's 6-foot-8 teenager Elizabeth Cambage, who had a team-high 18 points against the U.S. in a game that decided the Group E title, would be the most dominant player in college if she chose to go that route. He also spoke about the development that Maya Moore has made as she is learning how to play when teams deny her from getting open looks from the perimeter.

South Korea is next up for the U.S. in the quarterfinals on Friday. Barring a monumental upset, the U.S. will face either Spain or France in the semifinals on Saturday.