Villanova’s Christina Dalce and Lucy Olsen help Team USA advance to three-on-three basketball finals

As Villanova’s Christina Dalce and Lucy Olsen prepared to represent Team USA in their first international three-on-three women’s basketball competition, they received a call from a former teammate.

It was Maddy Siegrist, the Dallas Wings rookie and shepherd of Villanova’s 2023 Sweet 16 run, who played last summer with the under-23 3x3 team. Siegrist had experienced firsthand the frenetic pace, sweltering temperatures, and physical style that make three-on-three different from five-on-five basketball. She reached out to Dalce and Olsen and let them know what to expect.

“She told us everyone is a lot tougher overseas, so we had to be ready to play bully ball a little bit,” said Olsen, an All-Big East second-team selection last season. “We couldn’t expect any calls. Just go out, have fun and be tough — the main thing was be tough.

“She was a great person to have, that has been through [3x3] and did amazing with it. She’s just a great person and role model in general, so I want to learn as much as I can from her.”

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Dalce and Olsen were among a group of five college players — all relative newcomers to the emerging sport of three-on-three — who helped Team USA win the Under-21 Asia-Pacific Conference of FIBA’s Nations League, a tournament that took place June 23-29 in Handan, China.

The Americans went 15-1 over seven days of competition to defeat a field that included Chile, China, Japan, and Mongolia. As one of 13 conference champions, they’ll advance to the Under-23 Nations League finals on Sept. 13-15 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

“It was just all such a surreal experience,” Olsen said. “To play at Villanova is a dream come true, and then playing for Team USA — it’s hard to put into words, but it really is both an honor and a privilege to have that opportunity.”

Not only was the tournament memorable on the court, but for Dalce, it marked her first time traveling outside the United States.

“It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she said.

The sport of 3x3 is a new addition to international competition and received a boost of exposure when it was included in the Olympics for the first time at the 2020 Tokyo Games. The United States women and Latvian men won the gold medals.

Often staged outdoors on a half court with one basket, 3x3 might resemble a version of basketball that people play recreationally in their driveways or on public playgrounds. But Olsen said 3x3 is not like the average pickup game.

“Once you start playing in it, you learn all the ins and outs of the three-on-three,” she said. “There’s so much strategy; there’s so many plays that you can do; there’s a lot more that goes into it than when you’re playing outside with your buddies.”

Part of why 3x3 feels different from other styles of basketball, according to Dalce and Olsen, is its breakneck pace. Games last no more than 10 minutes, one-fourth as long as a standard college basketball game. To win, a team must be leading when time expires or be the first to reach 21 points.

The action is continuous and frenzied. To minimize stoppages in play, 3x3 uses a 12-second shot clock that starts the moment the offensive team touches the ball following a made basket, defensive rebound, or steal.

“As soon as you touch the rebound outside of the zone, the time is ticking,” said Dalce, who set a Villanova record last season with 86 blocked shots. “You have to go, go, go.”

With only four players available for any game, there are also not as many opportunities for substitutions. The combination of the fast pace, limited rest, and 100-degree heat in China left players exhausted.

“Put everything you’ve got on the floor until it’s your turn to be subbed out,” Dalce said of the team’s mentality for dealing with the conditions. “And I think that’s exactly what we did, and that’s what really helped with our overall success.”

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Both Dalce and Olsen noted that playing 3x3 left little room to hide on the defensive end and challenged their skills as one-on-one defenders. For the 6-foot-2 Dalce, the tournament was an opportunity to practice defending smaller players.

“I’m usually guarding fours, and I had to guard guards,” Dalce said. “They really put me to the test, and I passed the test.

“It’s three-on-three, but it’s like one-on-one. When your person gets [the ball,] you’re just trying to stay in front because if you get beat, no one’s there to help you.”

Along with Dalce and Olsen, USA Basketball selected Minnesota’s Mara Braun, Tennessee’s Jillian Hollingshed, Creighton’s Morgan Maly, and Maryland’s Shyanne Sellers for the 3x3 under-21 roster, although Hollingshed did not participate because of an injury.

According to Olsen, four of the five players who competed in China will represent Team USA in the finals in Mongolia. Regardless of when USA Basketball makes its roster decision, at least one Villanova player is guaranteed to make the trip in September.

“I’m sure any of us that’ll go, we’re going to win,” Olsen said.