BEIJING - U.S. guard Katie Smith walked off the court after the American women's basketball team beat China on Monday, pointed at Gail Goestenkors as she passed by and said, "It was all her."

Smith was giving Goestenkors, the current Texas head coach and U.S. assistant, credit for preparing the United States to thrash China 101-63 in Pool B play at the Beijing Olympics.

Goestenkors, the former Duke coach, was already thinking about the Americans' next game by that time. This isn't her first trip to China. The United States played in an Olympic testing tournament here in April.

"This time around it's business," Goestenkors said. "We haven't had time to do anything outside of practice, games, scouting. It's been videos every day, meetings every day. The last time we came, we had free time to see Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall. This time around, no."

Goestenkors is doing what her former Duke counterpart Mike Krzyzewski is doing with the U.S. men -- fulfilling a three-year commitment with USA Basketball that is supposed to end with a gold medal.

There was a chance Goestenkors would have been one of two representatives with this Olympic team with Duke ties. Alana Beard, whose number hangs in the rafters at Cameron Indoor Stadium, was a member of the national team the past three years and played during a tour to Italy in April 2007.

Goestenkors said Beard, who was coming off shoulder surgery, had to miss too many key training sessions after the injury.

"I think that hurt her chances, but there wasn't much she could do about that," Goestenkors said.

Goestenkors has served in the USA Basketball program since 1997. In addition to assistant duties for this national team under coach Anne Donovan and the Olympic gold-medal winning team from the 2004 Athens Games under Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer, Goestenkors has coached four junior USA teams.

Goestenkors may eventually get the chance to lead the women's program at a future Olympics. She says the opportunity to coach the best players in the world keeps her going.

"I want to continue to learn," Goestenkors said. "You have the opportunity to see new places and do new things. You work with other great coaches you can learn from. And I always bring back some great things when I come home, at Duke and now at Texas."

Goestenkors did miss some recruiting time in July while traveling with and coaching the U.S. team. The Longhorns went 22-13 in Goestenkors' first season and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Goestenkors wasn't worried about losing ground. Her staff at Texas includes Gale Valley, who coached alongside Goestenkors at Duke before joining her at Texas. Also Mickie DeMoss, a former college head coach, worked 18 seasons as the lead assistant to Tennessee coach Pat Summit and knows the drill when the boss leaves to coach for her country.

"Yes, they're just moving along without me; they're pretty self-sufficient," Goestenkors said.

The next stop on this Beijing business trip is Wednesday back at the Olympic gymnasium when the United States (2-0) will play Mali at 10:15 p.m. (10:15 a.m. Eastern).

More than a year after leaving Duke, the program she made into a national power, Goestenkors has a different, shorter haircut but the same feelings about Duke.

"I miss everyone there, but it looks like everyone has been able to move on," she said. "It will always be home to me and my family."

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