Hailey Van Lith, USA 3x3 Basketball Clinch Semi-Final Berth: Updated Olympic Bracket
After shaking off a rough start to Olympic play, Team USA's women's 3x3 team has advanced to the semifinal.
Hailey Van Lith, Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby and Rhyne Howard led Team USA to a dominant 21-13 win over China in a knockout play-in game on Saturday. The win marked the fifth straight for the team after starting Olympic play 0-3.
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Updated Olympic 3x3 Bracket
Play-in Games
United States def. China 21-13
Canada def. Australia 21-10
Semifinals
United States vs. Spain, Aug. 5, 10:30 a.m. ET
Germany vs. Canada, Aug. 5, 11:30 a.m. ET
Bronze Medal Game
TBD vs. TBD, Aug. 5, 3 p.m. ET
Gold Medal Game
TBD vs. TBD, Aug. 5, 4 p.m. ET
Hamby led the way for Team USA, scoring nine points and grabbing five boards, and Howard and Burdick added five points apiece. Burdick also had eight boards. It wasn't the best showing from Van Lith, who had two points and five rebounds, but the only collegiate player on the team still continued to show her value.
Team USA beat China 14-12 in the pool round earlier on Saturday. In that matchup, Van Lith had six points, Howard had three, Hamby put up four and Burdick added one.
After getting past China to advance to the semifinals, Team USA will now face a tough Spain team that is 4-3 in Olympic play. The only team with a better record than Spain is Germany, which is 6-1 and will face Canada in the semifinals.
A gold medal for Team USA seemed out of reach after starting the tournament 0-3, but the team has turned things around in its last couple of games and now has all the momentum going into the semifinals.
The United States won a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics behind a stacked roster highlighted by Kelsey Plum, and this year's group will look to continue the tradition of success.
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