Since 3×3 debuted at the 2020 Olympics, the 3×3 women’s national team has seemed to occupy a somewhat strange, not totally defined place within the USA Basketball universe.
Is the 3×3 team simply a stepping
stone to the 5×5 national team, where a player’s participation in 3×3 competitions will eventually lead to opportunities in major 5×5 competitions? Is 3×3 participation implicitly understood as secondary endeavor, with 3×3 teams compiled with less investment and intention than is involved for 5×5 squad? Or, is 3×3 its own separate, yet equally serious, operation, where teams build chemistry and cohesion across competitions in preparation for the Olympics?
With Elena Delle Donne becoming the first-ever women’s 3×3 managing director, a role she was appointed to in September, it’s seems USA Basketball is getting serious about it’s women’s national team, ready to approach all major competitions with a roster that reflects a winning, rather than going-through-the-motions or this-sort-of-matters, mentality.
The goal is to guarantee that the United States reclaims gold at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. And the roster for the 2025 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup reflects this mission.
The Atlanta Dream’s Allisha Gray and Naz Hillmon, Golden State Valkyries’ Veronica Burton and Washington Mystics’ Shakira Austin will represent Team USA in León, Mexico from Nov. 27-30, seeking to win the Americans’ third gold medal in the competition that began in 2021.
Team USA won the inaugural AmeriCup in 2021, as well as in 2023. In 2022, the Americans finished third, behind Canada and Brazil. Last year, a squad of Brittney Sykes, Azurá Stevens, Maddy Siegrist and Abbey Hsu finished second to Canada.
Gray returns to the 3×3 court for the first time since 2021, when she helped Team USA win gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In 2021, she was named USA Basketball’s 3×3 Athlete of the Year. Burton also is coming back to 3×3, as she represented Team USA at the 2022 Women’s U23 World Cup, winning silver. She also was a member of the bronze-winning 2022 AmeriCup Team. Hillmon and Austin will be making their 3×3 debuts, although Austin did participate in the 2024 USA Basketball 3×3 development camp.
As they have proven in the WNBA and other settings, the foursome of sports skills conducive to 3×3 success that, when combined, should see the Americans return to the top of the podium.
An incessant improver who is coming off the best season of her career, stamped by her first All-WNBA First Team selection, Gray’s status as a big guard who can power her way to the hoop or drain 3s—and who never stops moving—makes her an incredibly tough cover. Plus, she doesn’t try to save energy on the defensive end, always hounding opponents. That also describes Burton, whose 2025 Most Improved Player-winning season also included a spot on the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team. The tandem of Gray and Burton will make things extremely difficult for opposing ball handlers, as they will pester opponents while also denying easy passes. Offensively, the pair should also enhance each other, with Burton’s playmaking setting up Gray’s scoring.
In the frontcourt, the Americans also will benefit from a versatile and athletic duo. The 2025 Sixth Player of the Year, Naz Hillmon has established herself as one of the most adaptable players in the sport, molding her game to not simply to fit alongside, but to amplify her teammates. A savvy cutter, she’ll be ready to take advantage of any inattentive defenders. Expect her also to earn extra possessions as a rebounder. Defensively, she has the strength to hold up in the post, as well as the quickness required to defend on the perimeter.
The 6-foot-6 Austin is an near-ideal modern big, as she can move with fluidity that, with her height and length, makes her hard for the opposition, likely to be smaller, slower or both, to handle. She should allow the Americans to own their area around the basket, both with her efficient finishing offensively and rim protection and rebounding defensively. Because she can also move her feet, don’t be surprised if Austin shows off shut down defense away from the paint, swallowing up opponents on the perimeter with her long arms.
Head coach Christina Batasini will be tasked with making this team sing like it should. Batasini, who played for Stanford in the late 1990s, has served as a coach within USA Basketball’s 3×3 women’s program since 2023. Last year, she was in charge of the 3×3 Nation League Team, which went undefeated in 22 games. She also led the 2024 U23 World Cup Team to gold.
Team USA enters the 2025 3×3 AmeriCup as the No. 2 seed, drawn into Pool B with No. 7-seed Brazil and No. 10-seed Jamaica.
The Americans tip off their tournament on Friday, Nov. 28 at 2:50 p.m. ET against the Brazilians. They then meet the Jamaicans at 6:30 p.m. ET. If they come out on top in Pool B, Team USA will play against the second-place team from Pool D on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 1:50 p.m. ET in the Quarter-Finals. With a victory, they would advance to the second Semi-Finals game at 4:05 p.m. ET.
And if all goes as planned, Team USA should be in the Final, going for gold at 6:30 p.m. ET.
All games will be streamed live on the FIBA3x3 YouTube channel.
