When the U.S. girls’s 3×3 basketball crew fell to 0-3 in pool play, repeating as Olympic gold medalists appeared like a pipe dream. It appeared {that a} lack of chemistry and expertise would show insurmountable, and that USA Basketball’s choice choices might have been off the mark.
The crew — comprised of Hailey Van Lith, Dearica Hamby, Cierra Burdick, and Rhyne Howards — fell to Canada, Germany, and Azerbaijan to start the Olympics. A part of the struggles might have been the results of circumstances out of their management — Cameron Brink, a key fixture of this system, was a late scratch because of an ACL tear. Whereas Sparks teammate Dearica Hamby changed Brink within the lineup, she had little time to acclimate to taking part in along with her new 3×3 teammates. It additionally didn’t assist that the Dream’s Rhyne Howard was out of fee for the month previous to the Olympics coping with an ankle sprain.
Haley Van Lith and Cierra Burdick are the one two returning members from final yr’s World Cup crew that gained the gold medal, and each expressed their disappointment with the sluggish begin within the early days.
“We began taking part in smooth, and so they performed a lot tougher than us,” Van Lith mentioned after a loss to Canada.
“We’re essentially the most inexperienced crew right here,” Burdick mentioned after the loss to Azerbaijan.
However, 3×3 basketball is a recreation of momentum, and Van Lith, Burdick, Hamby, and Howard had been in a position to construct some, rattling off 5 consecutive wins to safe their unlikely spot within the semifinals. Three days later after falling to 0-3 in Olympic pool play, they’re proper the place they need to be: place to contend for an Olympic medal.
USA’s Saturday started with a 14-12 win in opposition to China. Hailey Van Lith the best way in that one, scoring a game-high 6 factors (on 4-9 capturing). That solidified the U.S. because the #3 seed within the match, which superior them to the play-in spherical, performed afterward Saturday. (The #1 and #2 seeds routinely advance to the semi-finals, whereas seeds #3-6 advance to the play-in with an opportunity to compete for a semifinals berth).
Since China ended up ranked sixth total, the 2 groups confronted off once more simply 4 hours later, at 4pm ET. In that single-elimination contest, it was Dearica Hamby who took over. Hamby hit back-to-back pictures from past the arc (every price two factors) to provide USA an early lead, and completed with a game-high 9 factors, together with 3-3 from two-point vary. Cierra Burdick and Rhyne Howard every added 5 factors, whereas Burdick grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds.
The 21-13 win caps a dominant five-game win streak and demonstrates the 3×3 crew’s resilience within the face of adversity. Now, the U.S. is certainly one of 4 groups to maneuver ahead to the medal video games.
Up Subsequent
On the final Olympics, the U.S. got here away with gold, however that was a wholly completely different roster, one led by Kelsey Plum, Allisha Grey, Stefanie Dolson, and Jackie Younger. This roster has the prospect to repeat on Monday, August fifth, when the semifinals happen.
Germany will face Canada at 11:30a and Spain will face america at 12:30pm ET. The winners of the 2 video games will face off within the Gold Medal Ultimate at 4pm, whereas the losers will compete for the bronze medal at 3pm ET.
