Their scrapbooks and trophy cases are filled with memories from glittering college careers and some impressive showings in the pros. Now, they all have Olympic gold medals to go with all that.
The US team of Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young took an early lead against the team from Russia, then held on for an 18-15 victory on Wednesday to win the title in the debut of 3-on-3 basketball at the Olympics.
Much as they did in the final, the Americans dominated through most of the five-day tournament. They played nine games and only lost one. Plum, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA college basketball history, led the way in this one as well, scoring 55 points over the nine games. She scored all five of her points in the final early to stake the US to a lead they never relinquished.
All four players are in the midst of successful WNBA careers. Of the four, Plum is the only one who didn’t win a national title in college. This seems like much more than a consolation prize. When it was over, she got in a hug huddle with her teammates, then they made it over to the stands for a visit with IOC president Thomas Bach.
US first lady Jill Biden was at the Aomi Urban Sports Park for the opener last weekend.
This foursome, who came together only over the past couple of months and overcame the late loss of Katie Lou Samuelson to a positive Covid-19 test, are now part of the see-and-be-seen crowd in Tokyo.