PARIS – The United States women’s 3×3 team dropped their Olympic opener Tuesday in a crushing 17-13 upset loss against Germany.
The bulk of Team USA’s missed opportunities came from beyond the arc. While team Germany went 4-10, Team USA struggled, going just 1-8.
Team USA, comprised of WNBA stars Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby and Rhyne Howard, along with TCU guard Hailey Van Lith, started strong, building a 5-0 lead.
Van Lith, a member of the USA’s 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup gold medal-winning U.S. team, led the team with six points and three rebounds. Hamby, who replaced her injured Sparks teammate Cameron Brink, put up an impressive seven rebounds to go with four points of her own.
After going down 5-0, team Germany, led by Stella Reichert, put up an explosive effort, going on an 11-3 run to take the three point lead. Van Lith and Hamby kept team USA going with clutch shots to tie the contest at 11 with a little over three minutes to go.
Germany’s Sonja Greichacher broke the tie with a clutch two point shot of her own with under two minutes to go, beginning the lead Germany never surrendered.
Following the loss, Team USA discussed several challenges they faced during the game including fatigue and chemistry issues due to the short amount of time the team had to prepare together.
“I think we got a little bit hectic,” Howard, the 2022 No. 1 overall pick said. “Chemistry definitely came into play.”
Although Van Lith and Burdick have played together in the 3×3 format for the past three years, Van Lith explained that Hambry and Howard are still learning the format
The differences between 3×3 basketball and traditional 5-on-5 mean that 3×3 players typically play at a faster pace and are expected to cover more space. Despite the games being just 10 minutes long, Team USA believes exhaustion came into play.
“At the end of the game, honestly, we were winded,” said Van Lith. “We started playing soft. And they played much harder than us.”
Despite the loss, Team USA remains confident as they look to win back to back gold medals.
“I’m not scared of this 0-1 start,” Van Lith said. “I’ve been here before.”
Team USA returns to 3×3 play Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. ET against Azerbaijan. Games can be streamed on NBC and Peacock.
