Sermanni described the performance in the 4-0 loss to Japan in the opening match of the tournament as "un-Australian" and a similar humbling looked on the cards when Lynn Biyendolo gave an experimental USA a 1-0 lead inside a minute.
The dominance of the number one ranked Americans at Glendale's State Farm Stadium was again rewarded when Michelle Cooper doubled their lead with a cool finish in the 68th minute.
The Australians kept to their task, however, and substitute striker Michelle Heyman pulled a goal back with a header from Hayley Raso's cross in the 80th minute.
"I think effort and attitude were so much better in this game, especially after the start we had," Sermanni told reporters.
"Given the performance of the last game and the result, and then losing the goal after probably less than a minute, I think we could easily have just sort of caved in today.
"From a perspective of the team digging in and sticking in there, I was really pleased with part of our performance and that effort."
Australia face Colombia in their final match of the invitational tournament on Wednesday.
"I think we do need to still keep the ball better and our movement needs to be a bit slicker, rhythm needs to be better," Sermanni said.
"I felt that we were basically bullied by the Japanese. So get back to getting closer to teams when we're trying to press, and to bring that physical element of the game back.
"We want to be dynamic in possession but, at the same time, we want to have an edge about our game that the Australian teams in any sport have."