The U.S. women’s 3x3 basketball team took home the bronze medal after a 16-13 win over Canada, in large part thanks to a massive 6-point, 2-assist performance by Hailey Van Lith, USA’s leading scorer throughout the Olympics.
Hailey Van Lith leads USA Basketball 3x3 to bronze medal in win over Canada
Hailey Van Lith scored a game-high 6 points to power the U.S. women’s 3x3 basketball team to a 16-13 win over Canada in the Olympics’ bronze medal game.
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
That came after an 18-16 loss to Spain earlier in the day that cost them a chance at a gold medal. Van Lith also led the way in that one — with a game-high 8 points — but foul trouble put Spain in the bonus for the second half of the game.
Van Lith sounded off about the lopsided refereeing after the loss to Spain: “This was 1000% BS,” she said, per Marca. “Those refs wanted the U.S. to lose. They were flopping left and right. They are not that good. Great job ladies, we know who should have won.”
The U.S. women had only three hours to bounce back from the emotional semifinals defeat before regrouping to compete in their 9th Olympic game in a single week.
What went down vs Canada
In the Bronze Medal Game again Canada, Rhyne Howard finished with 4 points, and Cierra Burdick and Dearica Hamby each added 3 points a piece. Hamby also grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds, and made several critical defensive plays down the stretch.
The U.S. women trailed 12-9 with three minutes to play, seemingly at risk of missing out on a medal altogether. But, they finished the game on a dominant 7-1 run to seal the victory, ensuring they’d leave Paris with some hardware.
Dearica Hamby got things going with a basket to cut the deficit to 2 with two and a half minutes to play, and moments later, Canada was called for a technical foul due to incessant complaining to the referees. That gave Van Lith a free throw, which she converted to cut Canada’s lead to just 1. She then tied things up with a strong driving layup with just under two minutes to play for her 6th point of the night. Hamby took the lead for good with an and-one drive, a move that became commonplace for her throughout the tournament.
Team USA held a two-point lead in the waning seconds, but given the fast pace of 3x3, victory was far from certain. Rhyne Howard miss a two-point shot with 7 seconds to play, but Cierra Burdick got the clutch offensive rebound to all but seal the victory. Canada was forced to foul Burdick in order to regain possession, and Burdick sunk a free throw to secure the victory.
Twin sisters Michelle and Katherine Plouffe have powered Canada’s offense throughout the Olympics — each entered the Bronze Medal Game averaging 6.1 points per game. They led the way in this game as well, but their offense wasn’t enough — Michelle struggled from outside, hitting just 1 of 6 two-pointers, and the two combined for 8 points, a significant dip below their combined 12.2 point per game average.
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Canada’s scoring was limited across the board — entering the final game, they averaged 18 points per contest, the most of any women’s Olympic 3x3 team. But, the United States’ stifling defense held them to just 13 total points in this one.
Hailey Van Lith was the team’s leading scorer through the tournament, averaging 5.2 points per game, while Dearica Hamby was the second-leading scorer, with 4.1 points per night. Hamby was also the leading rebounder in the tournament — and third-highest rebounder overall — with 4.9 boards per contest.
After the win, the U.S. embraced at center-court and waved at the crowd, acknowledging their victory, recognizing that the journey from a 0-3 hole in Olympic pool play culminated in a medal.
