USA tune up for play-in with tough win over China at women's 3x3 Paris Olympics

PARIS (France) - Defending women's gold medalist USA tuned up for the play-in with a tight 14-12 victory over China on day five at the Paris Olympics. 

After losing their first three games, USA have turned it around with four straight wins to finish in third spot and they'll again play China who finished with a 2-5 record. The winner will advance to the semis. 

Scoring was difficult with much at stake, but superstar Hailey Van Lith found a way through her crafty moves to finish with a game-high 6 points.

Part of USA's turnaround has been lifting their defensive intensity with WNBA player Rhyne Howard producing outstanding defense in the paint to stop towering Zhiting Zhang, who shot just 3 of 10. 

USA held the edge with Howard hitting a sweet two before Van Lith tapped deep into her bag to hit the pretty layup.

Despite poor two-point shooting, China kept fighting but Van Lith was not to be denied as USA appeared set to walk away with the dub.

China had one last run in them, but their two-point woes proved fatal when Mingling Chen missed a two at the buzzer. 

Key Player: Van Lith is priming herself for a big day five as she electrified the crowd with insane ball handling to leave her opponents baffled. The southpaw finished with 6 points on 5 of 10 shooting and was the one player who did not find scoring difficult. 

FIBA