After starting 0-3 in the 3x3 Olympic basketball competition, Hailey Van Lith and Team USA have finally secured their first win. In their matchup against Spain on Thursday (August 1), there was a lot of pressure on USA Basketball to pick up the pace and return to their winning ways. They finished the contest with a score of 17-11.
How did the Team USA 3x3 basketball Olympics star Hailey Van Lith perform vs. Spain? The TCU guard put up a big outing for her team as she is tied with Rhyne Howard as the two leading scorers on the team. It was a complete shooting effort for Lith, who shot it well from one-point and two-point range, along with her trip to the charity stripe.
Hailey Van Lith made her first field goal at the 4:28 mark to cut the deficit to just a one-point lead. She gave Team USA the lead with 4:04 minutes remaining but Spain didn't easily go away. After both teams had gone cold since the 1:41 mark, the USA called a timeout with 47 seconds to go in the ball game.
Following the timeout, Cierra Burdick got to the free-throw line and went one-for-two to give USA Basketball a one-point advantage. From that point on, complete momentum was on their side.
Lith also knocked down a huge jumper from two-point range to push the team's lead to five points. Dearica Hamby capped things off with a made shot from one-point range for a six-point victory.
They are scheduled to play against Latvia today at 2:05 p.m. PST with a chance to finish the day with a 2-3 record.
Hailey Van Lith talked about the disappointing loss to Germany
During the USA Basketball Women's 3x3 Olympic Team's first game in the pool play, they were handed a 17-13 loss at the hands of Germany. Lith talked about what to the team's loss, as per ESPN.
"I think I actually have a cold," Lith said, "I think it was from the rain in the opening ceremony. So, I think it's a combination of that, but I'll be fine. I played through it in the NCAA tournament, so there's nothing that's going to take me out."
The TCU guard made her first field goal during the 9:19 mark of the game to give Team USA a strong 2-0 start. It was an impressive opening for the USA as they held a 5-0 lead with 7:44 minutes to go.
However, Germany would soon get their offensive process going as they managed to give themselves a one-point lead after two consecutive jumpers from the two-point range. Lith was aggressive throughout the duration of the game as she helped keep it close against Germany.
However, it was an impressive showing of Germany’s shotmaking from two-point range that secured the hard-fought victory. After their strong start to the game, the tables quickly turned against them.
Hailey Van Lith put up 6 points (four-of-seven shooting from one-point range, including one-of-two from two-point range) and 3 rebounds under 6:57 minutes of action on the court.