Former UConn women stars Katie Lou Samuelson, Stefanie Dolson secure USA berth in Tokyo Olympics for 3x3 basketball
UConn women’s basketball alumnae Katie Lou Samuelson and Stefanie Dolson, alongside teammates Kelsey Plum and Allisha Gray, have secured the USA a spot in the Tokyo Olympics for 3x3 basketball.
With a 21-13 semifinal win Sunday over Spain in the FIBA 3x3 Olympic qualifying tournament, the U.S. officially punched its ticket to Tokyo for the sport’s inaugural event in the Olympics.
“We’re just super excited. Really proud of our team. Looking forward to Tokyo,” Dolson told USA Basketball. “We fought really hard. We knew this was going to be a tough game and just really proud of how we performed.”
The winners of the two semifinal matches in the qualifying tournament, which took place May 26-30 in Austria, earned Olympic berths. The U.S. advanced to that point after going 4-0 in pool play — defeating Germany (21-12), Uruguay (22-5), Indonesia (21-7) and France (21-17) — and then beating Belarus 21-10 in the quarterfinals.
“I think the pool play games really prepared us for today,” Samuelson said. “We really feel like we were hitting our stride in our two games.”
Samuelson was initially an alternate for the team, but with former UConn teammate Napheesa Collier unable to participate, she was named to the 3x3 squad in March
“One thing I know with USA Basketball is you never know when you’re going to be needed, to get called up or when you’re going to need to step up,” Samuelson said. “I’m grateful I had this opportunity to fill in, and I feel like we’ve been playing really well here.”
Gray led the team in scoring with an average of 6.5 points, followed by Dolson with 5.7, Plum with 5.3 and Samuelson with 3.7 (3x3 basketball games go up to 21 points). The team is coached by Duke head coach Kara Lawson.
The Tokyo Olympics are set to run July 23-Aug. 8, with the 3x3 events taking place July 24-28. The USA men’s team failed to qualify after getting upset by the Netherlands.
On the women’s side, the USA joins China, Mongolia, Romania, Russia, France and Japan in qualifying for the Olympics, with an eighth and final team able to qualify next week.
Samuelson (the Seattle Storm), Dolson (the Chicago Sky), Plum (the Las Vegas Aces) and Gray (the Dallas Wings) left their WNBA teams mid-season to participate in the Olympic qualifying event and are expected to return to their clubs in the coming days.
Alexa Philippou can be reached at aphilippou@courant.com.
