A former Tar Heel helped make history in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.

Allisha Gray, who played on the UNC women’s basketball team, and the United States women’s 3×3 basketball team won the gold medal match against the Russian Olympic Committee 18-15.

The 2020 Olympics are the first year including the sport. Games are ten minutes long and are played on a half-court with three players and one substitute for each team. Scoring is done by one-point and two-point shots instead of two-pointers and three-pointers, and each possession has a 12-second shot clock.

Gray, who currently plays in the WNBA on the Dallas Wings franchise, contributed four points in the win. The team’s other members are Stephanie Dolson of the Chicago Sky, and Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces.

The U.S. 3×3 team had a near-flawless run to the gold in Tokyo. The team went 6-1 overall, beating countries like Japan, Italy, Mongolia, China and Romania in the tournament.

Gray arrived at UNC as the seventh-ranked player in the 2013 recruiting class for women’s basketball. She became an immediate contributor for Sylvia Hatchell’s program at the time, averaging nearly 14 points per game her first season and 16 points per game in her second. With Carolina, she earned a spot on the ACC All-Freshman Team and then First-team All-ACC before transferring to South Carolina in 2015. Gray eventually won a national championship with the Gamecocks before getting drafted and winning WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2017.

Photo via USA Basketball on Twitter.


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