Coach Lawson, Team USA Shine in Olympic Qualifiers
VOIRON, France – Duke women’s basketball head coach Kara Lawson and her USA Basketball 3×3 Women’s National Team won the Big Twelve International Tournament title on Sunday in Voiron, France.
USA Basketball’s Allisha Gray was MVP of the women’s tournament and Stefanie Dolson was named to the all-tournament team.
The U.S. will now depart for Graz, Austria, where the FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be played from May 26-30. A total of 20 men’s and 20 women’s teams will take part and Olympic berths will be awarded to the top three finishing men’s and women’s teams.
The USA women kicked off against Russia in the semifinals and earned a 14-12 victory. The score was tied a 1-1 when the USA made its first run, 6-0, to go ahead 7-1 at 5:37. Russia used a string of three 2-pointers to climb back to within one point, 11-10, at 1:35, but Kelsey Plum answered with a two, and the Red, White, & Blue held on for the 14-12 win.
In the finals against France B, the United States battled its way to a 20-19 victory. The USA started strong and went ahead 14-8, but France B sank two two-pointers to keep the game close at the end. Dolson had nine points, Gray added five and Katie Lou Samuelson added four.
“We were able to come together and finish this tournament as champions,” Gray said of the USA team. “That was the goal. With every tournament that we play, the plan is to win.
“We got to get all our kinks out and learn each other, and build even more chemistry leading into the Qualifying Tournament.”