Team USA's women's 3x3 basketball team defeated France on Friday 14-13 and Canada 18-17 and will have two more games this weekend at the Paris Olympics.
Cierra Burdick, a Butler High School alum, scored 4 points in Friday's victory over France. She also grabbed 7 rebounds to help the U.S. earn the win. Burdick also had 4 points in Wednesday's loss to Azerbaijan.
Team USA faced Canada at noon on Friday. The game went to overtime after regulation time ended in a 16-16 tie. Just seconds into overtime, they drilled a two-point shot to win 18-17. Burdick had 3 points and 5 rebounds. Fellow NC native Dearica Hamby had 3 points and 2 rebounds.
They'll be back in action to wrap up pool play against China at 1:05 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
Team USA's 3x3 women's basketball team fell to Germany on Tuesday in its first round of the Paris Olympic Games, with Burdick and Hamby scoring 4 and 2 points each, respectively.
Burdick's first Olympic games come after an All-American career for the famed Tennessee Lady Volunteers. Burdick was also a WNBA draft pick and played a handful of seasons for a handful of teams.
"She works so hard, she never gave up," Burdick's mom said. "Two years ago, when she said 'OK I'm going to do this,' she pivoted her whole life to make this happen."
The quartet of women on the U.S. team are well-known pro and college players, even though Caitlin Clark was ineligible and the biggest names in the WNBA are in the 5-on-5 tournament. Hamby is having a career year for the Los Angeles Sparks, Rhyne Howard was the first overall pick of the Atlanta Dream two years ago, Hailey Van Lith played with Angel Reese for LSU last season and Burdick has played for seven teams over five WNBA seasons.
While none was part of the U.S. team that lost just once in pool play and beat France and the athletes from Russia on the way to the gold medal in Tokyo, they nevertheless boast plenty of experience in the nuanced, half-court 3x3 game.
Burdick won gold at the World Cup a decade ago and teamed with Van Lith — who has played the variation since she was 15 — to win another World Cup last year. Hamby helped the Americans take gold at the AmeriCup. And while Howard is relatively new to the scene, she did star in the 3x3 Challenge at the WNBA All-Star festivities.
“We're super grateful to be here, super grateful to wear USA across our chest, and represent our country on the world stage,” Burdick said. “Unlike the men, we've been together for about a week and a half, so we need all the preparation we can get."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.