Hailey Van Lith, Dearica Hamby, Cierra Burdick, and Rhyne Howard have a chance to become first-time Olympic medalists as 3x3 play wraps up in Paris.
The U.S. women’s 3x3 basketball team will compete for an Olympic medal today, after rattling off five consecutive victories and qualifying for the semi-finals. It was a sluggish start in Olympic play — the team dropped its first three games and was a loss away from elimination — but after turning things around, Team USA will once again contend for a medal.
The U.S. and Spain face off in the semifinals at 11:30am ET today, and Germany and Canada face off at 12:30pm ET. The winners of both of those semifinals games will compete in the gold medal game at 4pm ET, while the losers will battle for the bronze at 11:30am ET.
The team began Olympic play with losses to Germany, Azerbaijan, and Canada, but have gone undefeated ever since.
“We wouldn’t change a single thing that happened,” Hamby said after the team qualified for the semifinals, per TSN Canada. “We needed those three losses to kind of wake us up and see that although we may be more talented, we’ve got to figure out a way to dig deep and pull out wins and compete. This game doesn’t allow a lot of room for error and we’re finding chemistry so we’re happy.”
Through seven games, Hailey Van Lith has led all U.S. scorers with 4.7 points per game. She’s been particularly effective from beyond the arc, hitting 7 of 12 attempts through the tournament. Her 58% mark from beyond the arc is the best among any woman who has attempted more than three 2-pointers.
Dearica Hamby, a forward on the Sparks, is the second-leading scorer with 4.1 points per game. She was particularly instrumental in the play-in game against China, when she exploded for a game-high 9 points and 5 rebounds. She also had a game-winning layup against France in a critical pool play game, and has led the U.S. in rebounds with 4.4 a game.
Hamby was a late substitute for Cameron Brink, who tore her ACL during her rookie season in the WNBA.
“Gold is the standard for USAB and we’re trying to live up to that,” Hamby said. “We started 0-3 so we kind of took the pressure off ourselves and we found our fun and are enjoying it and here we are.”
Rhyne Howard is averaging 3.9 points per game — she also hit a game-winning two-pointer against Canada, and has found her offensive rhythm of late.
“Where we started, it was rough,” Howard said after the play-in win, per TSN. “But all you can ask for is growth, getting one percent better each day, each game and that’s what we’ve done and so we’re just continuing to look to grow as a team and as players and just continue to learn this game and keep it going for gold.”
Cierra Burdick, the 30-year-old veteran who plays with Valencia overseas, has been a steady force for the U.S., averaging 2.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per night.
“USA basketball is not used to losing,” Burdick said. “So, when you lose three in a row, it’s like everybody is kind of shocked and everybody’s rooting against us.”
Two wins today would mark two consecutive gold medals for USA Basketball 3x3 at the Olympics — in Tokyo, it was Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Stefanie Dolson, and Allisha Gray who brought home the hardware for the U.S.
This time, it’ll be a completely different cast — one that was widely doubted after the rough start and includes two non-WNBA players, Van Lith and Burdick. But, as improbable as a gold medal seemed just a few days ago, they’re now simply two wins away.
