Olympics photos courtesy of Comité Olimpico España and FHU Lady Lions photo courtesy of Emilie Curry
By Dustin Semore
FHU Information Director
Ten years after leaving Henderson with a degree in nursing, Grace Alonso de Armiño and her Spanish 3×3 women’s basketball team won the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
A tough game to watch for us in Tennessee, Alonso de Armiño and Spain needed to fight through the 2020 bronze medal United States team in the semifinal. The former Lady Lion got the Spaniards on the board by taking a pass from Vega Gimeno and laying in a basket at 1:28. With five seconds left in regulation, Sandra Ygueravide bucketed her seventh point to tie the game 16-16 to for a first to take a two-point lead overtime. The red and gold quickly got both points to guarantee a medal with an 18-16 overtime victory.
In the semifinal, Alonso de Armiño recorded three points and four rebounds in 7:37 of playing time.
With NBA royalty Dirk Nowitski and Pao Gasol in the crowd, Alonso de Armiño and Spain then faced the pool play winning German team for the gold medal.
La Rojas fell behind early, with Germany scoring the first three points of the game. Alonso de Armiño finally cracked through after grabbing an offensive rebound and putting the ball right back into the basket at 8:48. That sparked a 6-1 scoring run for Spain with a 2-pointer from Gimena giving Spain a 6-4 advantage. Spain would stretch out to a game-high four-point lead halfway through the final game, but Germany piled on from deep, planting a dagger in the quest for a gold medal with a 2-pointer with 30 ticks remaining. Spain would add one more shot before the final shot fell short with Spain taking the silver medal after a 17-16 defeat.
Alonso de Armiño tallied five points in the final while grabbing two boards.
Grabbing the sixth-most rebounds of the tournament with 39 boards, Alonso de Armiño recorded more offensive rebounds than any other Olympian, pulling down 21.
