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.
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.
Rhyne Howard added 4 points, and Cierra Burdick and Dearica Hamby each added 3 points a piece. Hamby also grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds.
What went down
The U.S. women trailed 12-9 with three minutes to play, but finished the game on a dominant 7-1 run to seal the victory.
Hamby got things going with a basket to cut the deficit to 2 with 2:30 to play, and Canada was called for a technical foul for incessant complaining over referee calls, which gave Van Lith a free throw. Van Lith then tied things up with a strong drive. Hamby then took the lead with an and-one drive.
Team USA held a two-point lead in the waning seconds. 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. She subsequently sunk a free throw to seal the deal.
Twin sister Michelle and Katherine Plouffe have powered Canada’s offense through this tournament — each entered the Bronze Medal Game averaging 6.1 points per game. They led the way in this one 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, significantly below their 12.2 combined point per game average.
Canada was 4-4 entering the Bronze Medal Game — averaging a 18 points per game — the most of any Olympic team. The United States’ defense held them to just 13 points in this one.
Hailey Van Lith was the team’s leading scorer through the tournament with 5.2 points per game, while Dearica Hamby was the second-leading scorer, with 4.1 points per night. Hamby was the leading rebounder in the tournament — and third overall — averaging 4.9 rebounds per contest.