The U.S. women’s 3×3 basketball team has won five straight games to advance to the semifinals and will compete for an Olympic medal today. After a slow start to the Olympics, losing their first three games and coming within one loss of elimination, the U.S. turned things around and is once again competing for a medal.
Today, the USA and Spain will meet in the semifinals at 11:30 AM ET, and Germany and Canada will play at 12:30 PM ET. The winners of both semifinals will play in the gold medal game at 4 PM ET, and the losers will play in the bronze medal game at 11:30 AM ET.
The team lost to Germany, Azerbaijan and Canada in their opening round of the Olympics but have remained undefeated since.
“I wouldn’t change anything that happened,” Hamby said after his team reached the semifinals. From TSN Canada“These three losses were a wake-up call for us and made us realize that we might have more talent but we have to work hard and find a way to win and compete. There wasn’t much room for mistakes in this game and our teamwork worked well so I’m happy.”
Hailey Van Lith is the U.S.’ leading scorer through seven games, averaging 4.7 points per game. She has been particularly effective with the 3-point shot, making 7 of 12 attempts throughout the tournament. Her 3-point shooting percentage of 58% is the best among players who have attempted three or more 2-point shots in the tournament.
Dearica Hamby is averaging 4.1 points per game, including a key role in the play-in game against China, where she exploded for a game-high 9 points and 5 rebounds, and she also hit a game-winning layup in a key pool match against France, leading the U.S. in rebounds with 4.4 per game.
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Hamby, a forward for the Los Angeles Sparks, was a late replacement for Cameron Brink, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament during his rookie season. WNBA.
“Gold medals are the standard for USAB and we’re trying to live up to that,” Hamby said. “We started out 0-3 so we just took the pressure off a little bit and had some fun and enjoyed ourselves and here we are.”
Rhyne Howard is averaging 3.9 points per game and has recently found his rhythm offensively, including making a game-winning two-point shot against Canada.
“It was a tough start,” Howard told TSN after the play-in win, “but all we’re asking is to grow, to get a percent better every day, every game, and that’s what we’ve been doing. So we’re just going to continue to grow as a team and as players, continue to learn the game and continue to go for the gold medal.”
Sierra Burdick, a 30-year-old veteran who plays overseas for Valencia, has been a steady presence for the U.S. national team, averaging 2.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
“The American basketball team isn’t used to losing,” Burdick said, “so when we lose three in a row, it’s a big shock to everybody and people stop rooting for us.”
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Photo credit: Elsa/Getty Images
Today’s two wins mark the second consecutive Olympic gold medal for USA Basketball 3×3. In Tokyo, Kelsey Plumb, Jackie Young, Stephanie Dolson and Alisha Gray brought home gold medals for the United States.
This time, the team will have a completely different lineup — one that was in doubt after a tough start and that includes two non-WNBA players, Van Lith and Burdick — but a gold medal that seemed impossible just a few days ago is now two wins away from winning it.
