The U.S. women’s 3×3 basketball team lost to Spain 18-16 in overtime, missing out on a chance to win a gold or silver Olympic medal, even though Hailey Van Lith’s eight points and five rebounds gave the U.S. a chance to advance to the gold medal game.
Van Lith, a senior at TCU who was a member of last season’s gold medal-winning World Cup team and was the team’s leading scorer throughout the Olympics, helped the U.S. lead early, but it was teammate Rhyne Howard who scored the game-winning shot to give the U.S. a one-point lead with 13 seconds left in the game.
Spain’s Sandra Higuerabida scored the tying shot to send the game into overtime and then made the winning free throw to send Spain to the gold medal game. She finished with a match-high nine points.
Free throws became the focus of the game.
The first five minutes were a back-and-forth affair. Dearrica Hamby scored three of the USA’s first four points (one on a putback and two on layups) and Van Lith’s one-two drive gave the USA an early 6-4 lead.
However, the game changed when the US players fouled Spain seven times, giving Spain the bonus for the final five minutes of the game. Spain scored six points on free throws, going 6/7, while the US team only made 1/3 of their free throws. This was the deciding factor. Spain took multiple free throws for non-shooting fouls in the final minutes of the game, much to the frustration of the US players.
Spain tied the game at 11-11, but Dearrica Hamby answered with an and-one layup to put the U.S. ahead 13-11 with four minutes to go. Rhyne Howard deflected a shot from Juana Camillon and then a driving layup to put the U.S. ahead 13-11. Spain tied the game with two free throws, but Van Lith answered with another drive to put the U.S. ahead 14-13. Garcia Alonso tied the game at 14 for Spain.
With the game tied at 14-14 with just over a minute left, Van Lith drove in and scored, and Spain’s Sandra Higueravida answered back with a basket to tie the score at 15-15. Howard scored on a go-ahead shot with 13 seconds left, but Higueravida answered with a basket.
In overtime, Higueravida put Germany ahead with two points after Howard missed a two-point shot that would have sealed the game, and Higueravida made two free throws that ultimately sealed the win.
The U.S. will compete for the bronze medal at 3 p.m.
Up next, the U.S. 3×3 team will face Germany/Canada in the bronze medal game at 3 p.m.
