Well, yes, it was close, but the US pulled it together and then pulled away for an 85-79 win over the feisty team from Cuba. Parker (9/12 for 21pts) and Taurasi (16 on 50% shooting) led the US in scoring, but overall the team struggled offensively and seemed out-sized in the paint. Key plays by Bird and Smith down the stretch sealed the victory.

Post game, Milton-Jones spoke about the Cuban team (in the additional quotes section):

You can tell that’s a team that’s been together for many years. We were talking about it in the locker room and Diana Taurasi said she remembered playing against most of the same girls when she was 18.

They know each other well, they have great chemistry on the floor and it showed tonight. We’re a team where we’re comprised of a lot of different players who haven’t really played together a lot and that showed. They took advantage of that in certain areas of the game. But in the end our defensive effort was the thing that really turned the game around for us and allowed us to get easy buckets in transition, regain the lead and extend it from there.

A high point: No one played more than 30 minutes -- there's still a LOT of basketball to be played.

But we do miss our posts. Kym Hampton over at NBAtv via the .com posts about the game:

Courtney Paris is the only true five on the U.S. roster, and she didn't see much time, and that's partly to blame for Cuba's Yakelyn Plutin going off for 23 and 10. Candace Parker can play in there, DeLisha Milton-Jones can play in there… but when you play against these international teams, their post players are very versatile. And Plutin is very mobile… she's not a true five… and she did well both around the basket and in her mid-range game. And Parker and DeLisha had trouble banging with her down low.