Team USA which includes basketball stars Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby, Rhyne Howard, and Van Lith defeated Canada 16-13 to win a bronze medal after falling to Spain in the semifinals.
Hailey Van Lith of the USA Women’s 3×3 team poses for a photo with her Bronze MedalCredit: Getty
Sandra Ygueravide (left) of Spain and Hailey Van Lith (right) of USA in action during the Women’s Semifinal match which Spain won in overtimeCredit: EPA
Olympian Hailey Van Lith of Team United States revealed she was “super emotional” after she won a bronze medalCredit: Getty
“Winning a medal for your country just makes you super proud,” Van Lith said, according to Dallas-based NBC affiliate KXAS-TV.
“Even after the game, I got super emotional.
“There just aren’t enough words. You just feel so proud.
“You’re just so thankful for your family and friends and everyone who cheered and supported you.
“If they will have me again at the next [Olympics], I’ll be back.”
Van Lith and the team nearly advanced to the gold medal round but blew a four-basket lead and lost a heartbreaker to Spain in OT of the semifinals.
Spain ended up losing in the finals with Germany’s 3×3 women’s basketball team claiming the gold.
The Team USA 3×3 women’s basketball team struggled to start Olympic play and ended group play with a 4-3 record.
They defeated China easily in the quarterfinals before eventually falling to Spain in the semifinals.
The team was without WNBA star Cameron Brink for this year’s Summer Games after she tore her ACL.
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Meanwhile, the official X account for USA Basketball 3×3 recently shared a photo of van Lith holding up her bronze medal.
The caption reads, “Hailey Van Lith: Olympic Medalist,” adding a bronze medal emoji at the end.
Fans rushed to the post to praise van Lith on the monumental achievement.
“Congrats Hailey!” wrote one fan.
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“So excited for you!!!!” celebrated a second.
“CONGRATULATIONS HVL!” raved a third.
“Proud of you,” a fourth wrote.
“CONGRATS HVL,” a fifth fan commented.
With Team USA 3×3 women’s basketball in the rearview mirror fans can now focus on the 5×5 women’s team.
The United States Women’s 5×5 basketball team has been dominant yet again.
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They have not lost a game in the Olympics since 1992 and are currently riding a win streak of 58 games.
The team will battle against Nigeria in a quarterfinal matchup Wednesday at 3:30 pm Eastern time.
