PARIS (July 31, 2024) – In hard-fought efforts, the 2024 USA 3x3 National Teams fell in their second set of pool play contests at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Both groups move to 0-2 in pool play with an opportunity to scale the standings throughout the day tomorrow.
Following yesterday’s opening match loss to Germany, 3x3 Women’s National Teamers Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby, Rhyne Howard and Hailey Van Lith squared off vs. Azerbaijan against a stunning backdrop at Place de la Concorde in Paris.
Azerbaijan entered the game with an 0-1 mark after dropping its first battle to Spain yesterday.
The Azerbaijanis opened the bout with a 3-1 edge before Burdick and Howard knotted the game at three apiece with an interior look and elbow jumper. The two squads followed the frenetic first minute with a flurry of buckets over the next 3:30 of game clock. With 4:57 to spare, the Olympic scoreboard read 10-10.
Azerbaijan’s Dina Ulyanova scored three straight points within 21 seconds to push her group ahead 13-10. The Americans countered, however, with a series of show-stopping buckets, including a no-look feed from Burdick to Hamby for a layup and a corkscrew-and-one layup from Hamby.
The 5-0 surge pushed the USA ahead 15-13, but Ulyanova and Tiffany Hayes responded with four quick tallies to reestablish a two-point advantage, 17-15. Like a ping-pong match, first-time Olympian Hamby quickly answered with a layup and free throw to tie it at 17 with 62 ticks to spare.
Hayes, as she did all game, ultimately sealed the deal for Azerbaijan with a driving layup. Van Lith couldn’t get her final 2-point try to fall, and the Azerbaijanis iced it from the free throw line to escape with a 20-17 triumph.
Hayes led all scorers with 11 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds while Ulyanova mustered six tallies for Azerbaijan. On the American side, Hamby scored a team-best seven points, Van Lith posted five points and Burdick made all four of her 1-point attempts.
The USA women will continue its mission to repeat on an Olympic stage with games vs. Australia at 7:00 a.m. ET and against Spain at 3:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 1.
Canyon Barry, Jimmer Fredette, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis continued the 2024 USA 3x3 Men’s National Team’s run against Poland, who also dropped its first pool play game, on Wednesday.
Poland started the game with a 3-0 lead before Barry scooped and scored for the USA’s first bucket at the 8:26 mark. The Polish rattled off four unanswered scores, however, to extend the margin to five within the first 2:30 of action.
Travis, Maddox and Fredette retaliated with a 4-1 spurt of their own to morph the four-point hole into a one-tally deficit, but Poland’s Filip Matczak and Przemysław Zamojski drilled two 2-pointers during another quick scoring surge. In the blink of an eye, Poland led 16-10.
A Travis 2-pointer, three Barry free throws and Fredette scoop-and-score brought the USA within one, 18-17, but Poland’s lead proved too difficult to overcome. After a Poland free throw, Fredette missed a contested 2-pointer from the right wing in the United States’ final offensive sequence to confirm the 19-17 defeat.
Barry and Travis piloted the bulk of the USA’s offensive attack – both mustered six points and combined for five rebounds. Fredette scored three and Maddox dropped a pair of 1-pointers.
Polish big-man Adam Bogucki hit seven of eight looks from 1-point territory and corralled seven rebounds to lead Poland’s Olympic quartet. Zamojski also grabbed five boards while Michal Sokolowski added five points.
Poland’s ability to knock down looks from the outside and establish an advantage on the interior proved the difference in the USA men’s contest. Poland hit four 2-point attempts while the Americans netted just two of their 15 tries from beyond the arc.
Fredette and Co. will look to right the ship during the United States’ pool play venture with games against Lithuania at 1:05 p.m. ET and defending Olympic gold medalist Latvia at 5:05 p.m. ET.