Semifinals recap: U.S. women headed for bronze-medal game after OT heartbreaker

Hailey Van Lith drives vs. Spain - Credit: Getty Images

Hailey Van Lith drives vs. Spain – Credit: Getty Images

The U.S. women’s 3×3 basketball team’s Cinderella run toward a second straight gold medal finally ran out of steam in a brutal OT loss to Spain on Monday. Team USA had fully flipped the script from an 0-3 start, ripping off five straight wins to reach the semifinals and looking every bit the part of gold-medal contenders. Now, though, the U.S. will be shooting for bronze, taking on XXX in the bronze-medal game at 3 p.m. ET on Monday. Spain will face XXX in the women’s gold-medal game at 4, while XXX and XXX duke it out on the men’s side after winning their semifinals.

Here’s a full recap of all the action from La Concorde.

FULL MEN’S BRACKET
FULL WOMEN’S BRACKET

Women’s semifinals

Spain 18, United States 16 (OT)

FULL BOX SCORE

This one is going to sting for a while. The U.S. felt like the better team in the run of play, shooting 14-of-27 from the field while holding Spain to just 9-of-31. Free throws, however, made all the difference: Three quick U.S. fouls in just 40 seconds of game time put Spain in the bonus with 6:19 still to play, and the Spaniards would go on to make five foul shots over the rest of regulation to help keep pace.

Despite the free-throw disparity, the U.S. looked to have the game won late, Rhyne Howard hitting a jumper with just 13 seconds left for a 16-15 lead. But Sandra Ygueravide forced overtime with a layup with less than five seconds remaining, and Spain scored the only two points of OT — the final one, of course, coming on a free throw from Ygueravide to send the U.S. packing.

Hailey Van Lith played arguably her best game of the tournament for Team USA, scoring a team-high eight points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with five rebounds. Ygueravide was the only player to score more than two field goals for Spain, pouring in nine points on 5-of-11 from the field.

The U.S. won’t be heading home just yet, however: There’s still a bronze medal up for grabs, against XX at 3 p.m. ET on Monday.

Germany vs. Canada: Still to come

Germany and Canada are set to play at 12:30 p.m. ET.

SEE MORE: How to watch 3×3 basketball at the Paris Olympics: TV and stream schedule

Men’s semifinals

Netherlands 20, Lithuania 9

FULL BOX SCORE

There might not be a team in the world hotter than the Dutch right now. Less than 24 hours after pasting the U.S., 21-6, to reach the semis, the Netherlands nearly matched it against a sturdy Lithuania side to punch its ticket to the gold-medal game later Monday afternoon. Star Worthy de Jong knocked down two 2-pointers and three free throws en route to a team-high eight points, while teammates Jan Driessen and Dimeo van der Horst added six apiece.

Aurelijus Pukelis (four points) was the high scorer for Lithuania, which shot just 2-of-10 from 2-point range as it tried to recover from an early 7-2 hole.