USA Women’s 3x3 basketball team secures bronze medal with win over Canada

Team USA defeated Canada in the bronze medal game of women’s 3×3 basketball on Monday at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Dearica Hamby, Cierra Burdick, Hailey Van Lith and Rhyne Howard defeated Canada 16-13 to earn the hardware. The win came after the United States fell to Spain in overtime in the semifinals earlier in the day.

Winning the bronze medal marked quite the turnaround for Team USA, which lost its first three games of pool play at the Olympics.

However, Hamby, Burdick, Van Lith and Howard continued to get better and better the more they played together. The United States had won five straight games heading to the semifinals, before falling to Spain.

Hailey Van Lith led the way for Team USA in the bronze medal game, scoring 6 points and pulling down 2 rebounds. Rhyne Howard added 4 points, while Dearica Hamby and Cierra Burdick each scored 3.

The United States team features multiple WNBA stars in Hamby, Burdick and Howard and perhaps a future one in Van Lith.

Hamby played college basketball at Wake Forest before beginning her WNBA career. She was named to the WNBA All-Star team this season as she plays for the Los Angeles Sparks. Hamby is averaging 19.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game on the season.

Howard played her college basketball at Kentucky where she was a unanimous All-American and was twice named the SEC Player of the Year. She earned WNBA Rookie of the Year honors in 2022 with the Atlanta Dream. She is averaging 15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists on the season.

Team USA player Cierra Burdick played her college basketball at Tennessee. She last played in the WNBA in 2021.

Finally, Hailey Van Lith joined Team USA after playing for LSU last season. She played a key role in the Tigers reaching the Elite 8, before they were eliminated by Iowa. Van Lith then transferred to TCU this offseason. She has an impressive resume that includes being named All-ACC twice during her time at Louisville.

All four members of Team USA can now also add bronze medal winners to their resume. The United States was hoping to earn a gold medal, but winning any medal at all is still quite an accomplishment, particularly when you factor in the slow start that the United States got off to.

While Team USA beat Canada in the bronze medal game, it’s Spain and Germany that will face off for the gold medal later on.