U.S. Olympic 3x3 Women’s Basketball Roster Announced For Debut Event in Tokyo


Colorado Springs, Colorado (June 23, 2021) – The four athletes who qualified USA Basketball for the inaugural 3×3 Olympic competition this summer will represent the USA at the Tokyo Games, including Stefanie Dolson (Chicago Sky/Connecticut/Port Jervis, N.Y.), Allisha Gray (Dallas Wings/South Carolina/Sandersville, Ga.), Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces/Washington/Poway, Calif.) and Katie Lou Samuelson (Seattle Storm/Connecticut/Huntington Beach, Calif.).

“USA Basketball is very proud to announce the first U.S. Olympic 3×3 Basketball Team,” said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball CEO. “These four players not only are outstanding athletes, but they will be excellent representatives for our country in this new Olympic discipline. All four have significant USA Basketball experience and most recently won the FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifier, which earned this 3×3 berth to Tokyo.”

Kara Lawson, the head women’s basketball coach at Duke University and a 2008 Olympic gold medalist, is the USA’s coach/advisor, a role she has held since 2017. Since 2017, she has led USA 3×3 teams to six gold medals. 3×3 rules prevent coaching during games, but Lawson guides the team during practices and in its preparations.

“I’m thrilled for these four women, all first time Olympians!” said Lawson. “Their dedication these past 18 months to help position USA Basketball in Tokyo is being rewarded. Now, the real work begins. I’m confident that this group will be able to put together performances that represent our standard. This will be our most challenging tournament to date, but I love the competitors that we are bringing with us.”

All four athletes are first-time Olympians that have extensive USA Basketball and career accolades.

Dolson, Gray and Plum played in their first international 3×3 event in 2021. Along with Samuelson, the team captured a tournament title at the Big Twelve International Tournament in Voiron, France, ahead of the 2021 FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

At the FIBA 3×3 OQT in Graz, Austria, the USA finished 6-0, and while its semifinal win punched the USA’s ticket to Tokyo, the team also finished in first place according to FIBA’s rankings that are based on points scored. As a team, the USA averaged 21.2 points per game. Plum was named to the all-tournament team after she averaged 5.3 ppg., 1.8 rpg. and 2.0 “key assists” per game. Gray led the USA in scoring with 6.5 ppg. and 5.0 rpg., Dolson averaged 5.7 ppg. and 4.0 rpg. and Samuelson contributed 3.7 ppg. and 3.7 rpg.

Samuelson, who won 3×3 gold medals at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games and the 2013 FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup, will become the first USA Basketball player to compete in a Youth Olympic Games and an Olympic Games.

Currently a member of the Chicago Sky, Dolson is 43-3 all-time with USA Basketball teams, including five-on-five and 3×3. She first played with the USA National Team in 2013 as a college student and since has been on six five-on-five national team rosters between the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup and exhibition games. She won gold medals with USA Basketball junior national teams at the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship and the 2011 FIBA U19 World Cup, and her career highlights include winning 2013 and 2014 NCAA National Championships at the University of Connecticut.

Gray, a member of the Dallas Wings, was named to the five-on-five USA National Team pool in March 2018 and since has compiled an 18-2 overall record playing for USA teams, including nine training camps between five-on-five and 3×3 teams. At the University of South Carolina, she helped the Gamecocks to the 2017 NCAA National Championship.

Plum, a member of the Las Vegas Aces, is the only FIBA World Cup gold medalist on the squad, which she earned in 2018. She is 44-4 with USA Basketball teams, including five-on-five, 3×3 and exhibition games. She won a gold medal at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Cup and a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games. She finished her collegiate career at the University of Washington as the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer with 3,527 points (25.4 ppg.), and she owns the NCAA single-season scoring record (1,109 in 2016-17) and the NCAA career free throws record (912).

Samuelson is 55-2 with USA five-on-five and 3×3 teams in competition and exhibition games. She owns one gold medal with the USA National Team from the 2019 AmeriCup and five gold medals from junior national USA teams. She won gold at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games (3×3), the 2013 FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup, 2013 FIBA Americas 3×3 U18 Championship, the 2014 FIBA U17 World Cup, where she was named to the all-tournament team, and the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship.

In its first Olympic showing, 3×3 basketball will feature eight women’s teams competing at Aomi Urban Sports Park from July 24-28. The preliminary round will be played from July 24-27. The quarterfinals will be on July 27, and the semifinals and finals are set for July 28.

Four women’s teams qualified for the Tokyo Olympic 3×3 competition in November of 2019 based on their FIBA 3×3 national federation rankings, including China, Mongolia, Romania and Russia. Three more teams qualified from the May 2021 FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, including the USA, France and Japan. The eighth and final team, Italy, earned its berth at the June FIBA 3×3 Universal Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

An exciting and fast-paced game, 3×3 officially was unveiled in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and since has become a fan favorite at FIBA 3×3 World Cup events.

3×3 basketball 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. Each team consists of four players, three on the court and one substitute per team.

The athletes were selected by the USA Basketball 3×3 Selection Committee and are pending approval by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

The USA Basketball 3×3 Women’s Selection Committee includes Jay Demings (USA Basketball Youth & Sport Development director), Carol Callan (USA Basketball Women’s National Team director) and two-time Olympic gold medalist Lindsay Whalen (athlete representative).

Athletes eligible for the Olympic roster must be U.S. citizens who participated in at least one of the following events: the 2021 Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Nationals, one of the Red Bull 3X regional tournaments that feed into the 2021 3X Nationals or the FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

For each federation, the 3×3 Olympic rosters must include two players ranked in the country’s top 10 3×3 athletes, according to FIBA’s 3×3 player rankings as of June 21, 2021. For women’s teams, the other two team members must have a minimum of 3,600 points or be ranked in the top 50 of their national individual ranking, according to the FIBA player rankings as of June 21, 2021.