Poway's Kelsey Plum Leads U.S. To Victory In Olympic 3X3 Game

POWAY, CA — Kelsey Plum scored a game-high 10 points, including the tie-breaking, game-ending 2-point basket, as the United States defeated China, 21-19, Monday to remain undefeated in the Olympic 3X3 women's basketball tournament.

There were six lead changes and nine ties in the pool-round game at Aomi Urban Sports Park, the last when Jiyuan Wan made a 1-point basket for China (4-2) with 41 seconds to play. Plum ended the game seven seconds later with her second 2-point basket as the U.S. improved to 6-0 in the inaugural Olympic 3X3 tournament.

China "played really super physical," said Plum, who was raised in Poway.

"For us, it is tough," Plum said. "This is a hard tournament and you do not have an easy game. There is no rest. I thought we battled through things and there were no mistakes. And they hit some big shots, so credit to them for putting up a good fight."

The 3X3 game is played with a 12-second shot clock on a half court. Baskets inside the arc and free throws are worth one point and baskets made from outside the arc are worth two points.

The winner is the first team to score 21 points or the leading team at the end of the 10-minute game clock.

Plum shares the tournament scoring lead with Italy's Raelin D'Alie, averaging 7.0 points per game in six games.

Plum scored three points in a 17-13 victory over Italy earlier Monday, making all three of her 1-point shots, but missing all six of her 2-point shots and lone free throw.

The U.S. is scheduled to conclude pool-round play by facing Japan in a game set to begin at 9:30 p.m. Monday, California time, that will be streamed at stream.nbcolympics.com/basketball-3x3-mens-womens-prelims-session-13.

The U.S. is scheduled to play a semifinal game at 1 a.m. Wednesday against an opponent to be determined that will be televised by USA Network.

— City News Service