When the U.S. girls’s 3×3 crew fell 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 an excessive amount of to beat, and that USA Basketball’s choice selections have been off the mark.
Cameron Brink was a late scratch due to an ACL tear, an enormous blow to The Sparks’ Dearica Hamby changed Brink within the lineup, however had little time to acclimate to taking part in together with her new 3×3 teammates. It additionally didn’t assist that Rhyne Howard was out of fee for the month previous to the Olympics nursing an ankle sprain.
Haley Van Lith and Cierra Burdick have been the one two returning members from final yr’s World Cup crew that received the gold medal, and each expressed their disappointment with the sluggish begin within the early days.
“We began taking part in comfortable, and so they performed a lot more durable than us,” Van Lith stated after a loss to Canada.
“We’re probably the most inexperienced crew right here,” Burdick stated after the loss to Azerbaijan.
However, 3×3 basketball is a recreation of momentum, and Van Lith, Burdick, Hamby, and Howard have been capable of construct some, rattling off 5 consecutive wins to safe their unlikely spot within the semi-finals. Three days later after falling to 0-3 in Olympic pool play, they’re proper the place they wish to be: headed to the semi-finals and in place to contend for a medal.
Saturday started with a 14-12 win in opposition to China. Hailey Van Lith the way in which in that one, scoring a game-high 6 factors (on 4-9 FG). That gave the U.S. the #3 seed within the event, which superior them to the play-in spherical. (The #1 and #2 seeds routinely advance to the semi-finals, whereas seeds #3-6 advance to the play-in).
Since China ended up being ranked sixth general, 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 value two factors) to offer 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 win caps a five-game win streak and demonstrates the 3×3 crew’s resilience within the face of adversity. Now, the U.S. is one in every of 4 groups to maneuver ahead to the medal video games.
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 the US 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.
