On Tuesday, the U.S. women’s 3×3 team lost 13-17 to Germany in their Olympic opener in a game that lead guard Hailey Van Lith called “weak” and teammate Sierra Burdick admitted was “awful.”
The U.S. women’s basketball 3×3 program’s poor start to the Olympics got even worse on Wednesday as Azerbaijan defeated the United States, 20-17.
A back-and-forth game was tied at 17-17 with 20 seconds left, but the U.S. couldn’t get a shot off in time, despite Burdick, the team’s most experienced, aggressively rallying her women and preparing plays in advance.
Later, Las Vegas Aces player Tiffany Hayes (Azerbaijan nationality) took advantage of a lack of communication on the defense and scored a layup, and Hailey Van Lith responded with a difficult three-point attempt to try and put the USA back in the lead, but the shot was an airball and Azerbaijan kept possession.
Dearrica Hamby led the U.S. with seven points on five-of-eight shooting and a team-high five rebounds, while Van Lith added four points and two assists but made just three-of-10 field goals.
Sierra Burdick had four points, four rebounds and two assists, while 2022 No. 1 draft pick Rhyne Howard WNBA Howard made just 1 of 5 shots in the draft and scored just 1 point. Accustomed to playing 5×5 basketball, he has struggled in his two pool games so far.
Meanwhile, Tiffany Hayes was dominant for Azerbaijan, scoring 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds, while Dina Ulyanova added six points in the win.
Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
For the second straight game, the USA Basketball 3×3 team’s inexperience was apparent late in the game.
“We’re the most inexperienced team here,” Burdick told USA Today after Tuesday’s loss to Germany. “We’ve got a lot of skill and a lot of talent, but that doesn’t win you a 3-on-3 game. This is a prime-time example.”
American 3×3 basketball continues tomorrow
The loss dropped the U.S. to the bottom of the standings. The top two teams will automatically advance to Monday’s semifinals, while the next four will advance to a play-in round for the remaining two semifinal spots. So if the U.S. can finish in the top six of the standings by Saturday, it has a chance.
The tough start doesn’t mean the U.S. team is doomed to a medal, but it certainly wasn’t the start they were hoping for. The U.S. plays two of its five remaining pool matches tomorrow, against Australia in the morning and Spain in the afternoon.
The rest of the schedule is as follows:
- Thursday, August 1: vs Australia, 7am ET, vs Spain, 3:30pm ET (pool play)
- Friday, August 2: vs France, 7am ET, vs Canada, 12pm ET (pool play)
- Saturday, August 3: vs. China, 1:05 p.m. ET (Pool Match)
- Monday, August 5: Semi-finals, bronze medal, gold medal
Here’s the current situation:
After two days of competition, Canada sits at the top of the rankings, with the United States in eighth place.
- Canada: 2-0 Canada beat China 21-11 today.
- Spain: 2-0 Spain beat France 17-12.
- Australia: 1-1 Australia beat Germany 21-19 today.
- Germany: 1-1
- Azerbaijan: 1-1 Azerbaijan beat the United States 20-17 today.
- China: 1-1
- France: 0-2
- USA: 0-2
