USA 3x3 Olympics Women's Basketball Team Secures Bronze After Losing Gold Medal Opportunity
The USA 3x3 Women's Basketball team's time competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics has ended.
The US women's squad has secured a bronze medal after defeating Canada by a score of 16-13 in Monday's bronze medal game.
🇺🇸 #3x3WNT takes home the bronze!#Paris2024 #3x3Basketball pic.twitter.com/ZPorPBwCTB
— USA Basketball 3x3 (@usab3x3) August 5, 2024
Per usual with this team, scoring was distributed pretty evenly during this quest for bronze. Hailey Van Lith led the way in scoring with 6 points, Rhyne Howard added 4 points, and both Dearica Hamby and Cierra Burdick each contributed 3 points to Team USA's winning tally.
It was a tightly contested game over a Canadian team that Team USA narrowly defeated in overtime back on August 2.
Because Team USA started the Paris Olympics by losing three consecutive contests, they would have not had the opportunity to compete for a medal if they hadn't won that initial game against Canada.
After winning that August 2 game, Team USA rattled off two more victories against China to place them in Monday's semifinal against Spain. They ended up losing this semifinal game 18-16 in overtime, which put an end to their hopes of repeating as 3x3 Olympics Champions after they won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Therefore, while Team USA securing bronze in the Paris games is certainly better than coming up empty-handed, the victory is a bittersweet one. However, Van Lith stated that the squad was proud of the result considering how they started and given the strength of the competition.
It is worth noting that the four-women roster of Howard, Burdick, Van Lith, and Hamby was not the squad USA was supposed to appear in Paris with. Los Angeles Sparks rookie Cameron Brink was slotted to play in these Olympics before she tore her ACL during the WNBA season. Brink's Sparks teammate Hamby ended up taking her roster spot.
Still, Team USA will be appearing on the podium; adding on to the impressive medal count that USA has racked up during these Paris games.
GRANT YOUNG
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.