US women defeat Canada in overtime to secure their third consecutive victory in 3x3 pool play

At the Paris Olympics, Hailey Van Lith sent a strong message as the defending champion U.S. secured its third consecutive win in an intense overtime battle against Canada in women's 3x3 basketball pool play. This victory came after a tough start with three consecutive losses, showcasing the team's resilience and determination to turn things around.

“We have a lot of tweets bookmarked on how we shouldn’t come back to the States,” she said. “So we haven’t forgotten.”

Rhyne Howard’s 2-point shot in overtime lifted the U.S. to an 18-17 win over Canada after the Americans beat France 14-13 earlier Friday.

Van Lith made a 2-point shot with 22 seconds left to tie it at 16 and force overtime, where the first team to score two points wins.

Canada scored first in OT on a short shot by Katherine Plouffe. Howard, who was 0-for-5 from long range in regulation, then drained the winning basket.

“After that third loss we had a heart-to-heart as a team and we were like ‘we didn’t come this far to lose,’” Dearica Hamby said. “We weren’t the favorites so to say but we’re still USA basketball and gold is the standard.”

Hamby made a layup with four seconds remaining in the victory over France.

The U.S. was up by three after a basket by Howard with just more than a minute to go. France got a layup from Myriam Djekoundade before Marie Eve Paget’s 2-pointer tied it with 20 seconds remaining.

Van Lith then missed a shot, but the team got the ball back to set up the game-winner.

Laetitia Guapo had a chance to give France the win at the buzzer, but her 2-pointer was short.

Hamby, Cierra Burdick and Van Lith had four points each. Burdick also grabbed seven rebounds.

France got five points from Guapo.