Rhyne Howard, Team USA claim bronze in Women's 3x3 Basketball
Add another medal to the United States’ still-rising count at the 2024 Paris Olympics. We can thank a former Kentucky Wildcat for this one, too.
On Monday, Rhyne Howard and Team USA locked up a bronze medal in the Women’s 3×3 Basketball event, taking down Canada 16-13 in the third-place matchup. The Americans had a chance to contend for gold but came up short against Spain in overtime (18-16) earlier in the day. Regardless, this was a terrific overall comeback effort from Team USA, which started the event 0-3 before rattling off five straight wins going into the semifinals.
In the win over Canada, Howard finished with four points and one rebound on 3-6 overall shooting. Former Louisville guard Hailey Van Lith led Team USA with six points while Dearica Hamby and Cierra Burdick added three points each. Howard is the first Kentucky WBB alum to represent Team USA at the Olympics and she’ll return to the States with some hardware around her neck.
It was certainly a rough start to this event for Team USA, losing early on to Germany, Azerbaijan, and Australia in three consecutive days. But the turnaround came quickly. The same day they lost to Australia, the Americans bounced to take their first victory by beating Spain. They then pulled out wins over France, Canada, and two in a row over Chinca to reach the semifinals.
Unfortunately, a tough overtime loss to the same Spain team they had beaten earlier cost them a shot at the gold medal. But to recover in a matter of hours to overcome a valiant effort from Canada was no small feat. Howard finished her 3×3 debut with an average of 3.8 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 53 percent on one-pointers and 21 percent on two-pointers. Her overtime game-winner in the first matchup against Canada on Friday was one of the best moments of the entire event.
We should also remember that Howard suffered an ankle injury in late June that kept her from playing for the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA for multiple weeks. There were questions surrounding whether or not she would even be able to make the trip to Paris. She returned to the Dream a couple of weeks before the Olympics began. She’ll head back with a medal.
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