The U.S. team of Kelsey Plum, Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, and Jackie Young have won the first women’s gold medal in the new Olympic sport of 3-on-3 basketball.
Plum scored all five of her points early to help the Americans take the lead, and they held on for an 18-15 win over the team representing the Russian Olympic Committee.
"I didn't think this was going to happen," said the guard, who suffered an Achilles injury last year and has been on a long road back. "I didn't think it was in the cards with my Achilles. And for Lou to get COVID and Jackie to come in. So many things. This group kept dealing with it."
"Lou" is Seattle Storm's Katie Lou Samuelson, who was originally slated to compete for Team USA in 3-on-3 basketball. However, a positive COVID-19 test prevented her from playing for the Americans. Young replaced her.
Much as they did in the final, the Americans dominated through most of the five-day tournament. They played nine games and lost only one.
Plum, who became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history during her four years at Washington, led the way in this event, as well. She scored 55 points over the nine games.
Earlier, China beat France 16-14 for the bronze medal and Serbia defeated Belgium 21-10 in the men’s third-place game.
All four U.S. players who made it to Tokyo are in the midst of successful WNBA careers. All made it there after college careers that made stops at the Final Four. Dolson played at UConn, Gray at South Carolina and Young was at Notre Dame. Of the four, Plum is the only one who didn't win a national title in college.
The gold medal seems like much more than a consolation prize.
When the U.S. game ended, Plum got in a hug huddle with her teammates, then they made it over to the stands for a visit with IOC President Thomas Bach.
U.S. First Lady Jill Biden was at the Aomi Urban Sports Park for the opener last weekend.
Yes, this foursome is officially part of the see-and-be-seen crowd in Tokyo.
Time will tell if the half-court version of this sport — brought to the Olympic program with the intent of bringing a younger audience, and a more diverse collection of countries, into the game — turns into one of the cool kids on the Olympic program. Even with no fans in the stands, they sure are trying hard.
With a DJ spinning records and a cheeky announcer calling play-by-play — "Izzzzzz goooodddd!" — the players were greeted during pre-game introductions by a Japanese percussion team featuring a 5-foot-5 guy wailing on a massive Taiko drum.
The game? Not nearly as free-flowing as advertised, and the closer teams got to medals, the more things tightened up.
Dolson, the 6-foot-5 forward, took a nasty elbow to the face about two-thirds into the final but recovered quickly. She ended up making four free throws — yes, those exist in this version of the half-court game — and the U.S. scored eight of its 18 points in this game from the line.
On this night, ugly sure felt beautiful. This foursome is now part of history in the 3-on-3 game.
"Everyone knows us for 5-on-5," Dolson said. "I think we started something special with this as well."