Fans were excited to watch Team USA’s 3*3 women’s basketball match against Germany at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. However, in a major turn of events, Germany beat Team USA by a 17-13 margin. The TCU Horned Frogs star Hailey Van Lith was again on the receiving end of the criticism. Previously too in the NCAA, the ex-Louisiana State University Lady Tigers star would be blamed whenever Angel Reese & Co. failed to perform up to the mark. However, this time, she found some support as well, apart from criticism. “I really hate how Hailey Van Lith is constantly used as a scapegoat now since her time at LSU. That loss is not on her,” one fan stated on X.

The USA lineup had a great start as they raced to a 5-0 lead, however, Germany bounced back and dominated in the last 8 minutes of the game. Van Lith scored some crucial points for the USA, but she would have wanted a few more points. The last point she scored was when Germany was already far ahead in the game.

Van Lith, who is the only college basketball player in Team USA’s squad, was blamed as she played a central role and could have changed the tide for Team USA, but, unfortunately, she failed to do that. She notably had 6 points with 3 rebounds and 2 turnovers in the game, but it wasn’t enough.

However, Van Lith being accused isn’t new since a similar thing happened last NCAA season when the Lady Tigers had lost an Elite Eight game against the Iowa Hawkeyes by a 94-87 margin in April. Even then, the point guard’s efforts couldn’t amount to much and were in vain, much like today. But today, her fans came forward to defend her.

Fans support Hailey Van Lith during tough times

“Anybody that got something negative to say about Hailey van Lith during this game clearly didn’t watch. She was not the worse player on the floor today. She did extremely well,” A fan reminded everyone that Van Lith had done her part. She had helped Team USA move closer to Germany when the USA was positioned at 11 points and Germany had 13. She scored a pointer then and the game could have shifted gears if the whole team had supported. But clearly, it didn’t happen that way.

“The loss isn’t on @haileyvanlith . The loss is on the @WNBA players. #TeamUSA #OlympicGames,” another follower came to Van Lith’s rescue. The user was pointing to the fact that while Van Lith is in college, 3 other players in Team USA have the experience of playing in the WNBA. Hence, they could have helped the team even more.

“Hailey Van Lith is fine. It’s one loss and the first game. We are good #USA,” another netizen opined that it was just one loss and Team USA still had the opportunity to bounce back. The fan wanted the critics to stop blaming Van Lith for the loss as the tournament still has a long way to go.

“Hailey Van Lith was the best player on Team USA for this game and somehow people in the comments blaming her for the loss? Lol, yall are dummies,” another fan slammed the critics. The fan was trying to emphasize that Van Lith performed up to the mark with 6 points and 3 rebounds. She scored almost 50% of the points for her team today and was better than any other USA player.

“Hailey Van Lith got cooked so bad by Caitlin Clark she had to transfer out of LSU. How did she make this team?” One critic, however, questioned Van Lith’s achievements. The X user recalled the Elite Eight game where Van Lith could score only 9 points leading to the Lady Tiger’s exit and wondered how the 22-year-old was picked for the Olympics.

What’s your take on Hailey Van Lith’s performance against Germany? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.