Kelsey Plum made all seven of her 1-point shots en route to a game-high 12 points as the U.S. Olympic women’s 3X3 basketball team defeated Romania, 22-11 Sunday.
They also beat the previously undefeated Russian Olympic Committee at Aomi Urban Sports Park in Tokyo, improving to 4-0 in pool round play. The U.S. now stands as the only women’s 3×3 team with a perfect record.
The Americans never trailed, though Romania tied them twice early. Plum, of Poway, made a 2-point basket to begin a 6-1 run that spanned one minute, 42 seconds and turned a 7-6 U.S. lead into a 13-7 advantage.
She ended the game with a 2-point basket with 2:39 remaining. She has made all 11 of her 1-point shots through three games of the inaugural Olympic women’s 3X3 tournament.
Plum, of the WNBA Las Vegas Aces, scored five points in the 20-16 victory over the Russian Olympic Committee.
The U.S. trailed by three, 14-11 with 2:55 left, then outscored the Russians, 9-2, to end the game. Stephanie Dolson and Allisha Gray each scored three points and Plum two.
Plum said the U.S. players expected that the Russians “were going to play super physical and the fouls were going to be pretty high, but I thought we played through it for the most part.”
“They’re a really good team, and they’ve been playing together as you can see,” Plum said. “They make a lot of really good reads. So, I’m just proud of the way we battled. We could have gotten down on ourselves when we got down early, but we didn’t, and we got the win.”
All Russian athletes in Tokyo are competing for the Russian Olympic Committee. A ruling last year by the Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Russia’s flag, anthem and team name as punishment for an extensive doping program and cover-ups.
The U.S. plays Monday, facing Italy at 1:55 a.m. and China at 5 a.m.
The Italy game and the China match will air at Stream.NBCOlympics.com.