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The WNBA’s Kelsey Plum, a La Jolla Country Day School alum, was among the four players nominated Wednesday for the U.S. women’s 3X3 basketball team that will play in the Tokyo Olympics.
Plum, part of the all-tournament team for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament last month in Graz, Austria, helped the U.S. to a 6-0 record by averaging 5.3 points, 2.0 “key assists” and 1.8 rebounds per game.
The U.S. is scheduled to begin play in the inaugural 3×3 Olympic basketball competition July 24 against France.
The Poway native was initially chosen for the U.S. women’s 3X3 team that was to attempt to qualify for the Olympics in 2020 in India. The tournament and the Olympics were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Plum is healthy now after tearing an Achilles tendon while playing with her WNBA team, the Las Vegas Aces, last June. The injury sidelined her for the rest of the season.
Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray and Katie Lou Samuelson also were nominated for the Games.
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 first team to score 21 points wins – or the team leading at the end of the 10-minute game clock.
Plum led La Jolla County Day to the 2012 CIF Division IV state championship. She scored an NCAA-record 3,527 points in her four seasons at Washington, including the single-season record, 1,109, as a senior in the 2016-17 season.
The San Antonio Stars selected Plum first overall in the 2017 WNBA draft. The team moved to Las Vegas before the start of the following season.
Final approval of the selections is required by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and will be announced at a later date.