PARIS — Sonja Greinacher scored the winning point with 30 seconds left to help Germany beat Spain 17-16 to win the women’s 3×3 gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Monday night.
Juana Camilion scored a 3-1 to give Spain a 15-13 lead with just two minutes left. But Elisa Mevius and Marie Reichert scored two consecutive goals to tie the score at 15-15 with only about 90 seconds left in the match.
Greinacher fired a long-range shot to give Germany a two-point lead. Camilion scored for Spain with 17 seconds left, and then Germany lost possession, giving Spain a chance to equalize at the final whistle. But Gracia Alonso’s shot was short, giving Germany the win.
NBA Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki was on hand to cheer on his native Germany, and Spain was supported by King Felipe and Hall of Famer Pau Gasol.
Nowitzki raised both arms above his head and cheered after Greinacher made the powerful shot.
Camilion got six points for Spain, and Alonso added five.
Hailey Van Lith had six points to lead the defending champion United States to a bronze medal with a 16-13 win over Canada.
The United States has won five straight games after an 0-3 start. The team reached the semifinals before losing to Spain 18-16 in overtime early Monday.
“We talked about it a little bit as a team: It’s better to go home with a bronze medal than go home empty-handed, which we can do after our tough start,” the American said. Rhyne Howard said. “We could have just laid down and not even competed until now, but we stuck together, we persevered and we made something out of very little.”
Canada took a one-point lead with about 90 seconds remaining before Dearica Hamby scored a basket and made a successful free throw to put the US team ahead 14-13.
Cierra Burdick hit one of two free throws with 39 seconds left to make it 16-13 and secure the win.
Although the players were delighted to win the medal, they were still a little disappointed that they could not win the championship again.
“I spent years going into this with a single goal in mind, so when you don’t achieve that goal, you feel a little bit sad,” Burdick said.
In the other semifinal, Greinacher scored 11 points and her shot with one second left gave Germany a 16-15 win over Canada.
Michelle Plouffe scored three straight points to give Canada a 13-11 lead with about three minutes left. But Greinacher scored the next four points to put Germany back in front.
Katherine Plouffe scored the next two goals to tie the score at 15-15 before Greinacher’s buzzer-beater gave Germany the win.
Sandra Ygueravide helped Spain overcome the United States in the semifinals. She scored in overtime, where the first team to score two points wins, before Howard missed a 2-point shot for the United States.
Hamby was then penalized for pushing Ygueravide leading to the decisive free throw.
With 13 seconds left in regulation, Howard’s shot gave the United States a one-point lead, but Ygueravide’s shot with five seconds left sent the game into overtime.
