Hailey Van Lith and the Team USA women's 3x3 basketball squad needed a pick-me-up after a rough 0–3 start to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
They beat Spain 17–11 on Thursday for their first win, then topped France 14–13 to open play on Friday. Later Friday afternoon, the Americans had a bit of extra support watching from the sidelines as they battled Canada for a chance to improve to .500 in pool play.
Team USA women's five-on-five basketball stars A'ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Kahleah Copper, Brittney Griner, Jewell Loyd and Chelsea Gray all arrived at La Concorde to cheer on the American 3x3 squad against the Canadians. They ended up seeing quite the finish.
Once trailing Canada 16–13 with one minute to play, Team USA forward Rhyne Howard dropped in a bucket and TCU star Hailey Van Lith knocked down a clutch shot from the perimeter to force overtime. Howard secured the win in the extra period in dramatic fashion, knocking down a clutch outside shot over Katherine Plouffe for the victory.
To celebrate reaching a .500 record, the 3x3 team of Howard, Van Lith, Cierra Burdick and Dearica Hamby walked over to the USA Basketball stars-turned-fans to share some postgame hugs.
I rewinded to add the post-win hugs with the 5x5 team that had showed up to support the 3x3 squad.
— Myles (@MylesEhrlich) August 2, 2024
Team USA 🇺🇸 🤝 Team USA 🇺🇸 https://t.co/CajCuBrTBN pic.twitter.com/k5YKHJDeQc
Aja Wilson, Jackie Young, Kahleah Copper, Brittney Griner, Jewell Loyd & Chelsea Gray came to support USA against Canada#3x3Basketball #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/tGFiAOJeTQ
— 3x3 Basketball |FIBA3x3 (@FIBA3x3) August 2, 2024
What a cool moment.
The Team USA 3x3 basketball squad has one more matchup to play in round robin against France before their six-team elimination tournament begins Saturday.
Meanwhile, the American five-on-five team holds a perfect 2–0 in Olympic play. They will battle Germany, who is also 2–0, on Saturday to wrap up the group phase before quarterfinals begin Aug. 7.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as A'ja Wilson, Team USA Show Love to Hailey Van Lith, 3x3 Basketball Squad After Big Win.
