‘I was just a bag of tears’: Fever’s Kristy Wallace makes Australian Olympic team
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Sandy Brondello, the Australian women’s basketball head coach, gave Kristy Wallace the call to tell her that she would be on the Australian women’s basketball team for the Olympics.
Wallace could not contain her emotions.
“I was just a bag of tears,” she said.
This is Wallace’s first selection to the Australian Olympic team. She said she has dreamed about this since she was a young kid, and this selection is a dream come true.
Wallace said that the Australian women’s basketball team stays in touch with each other, and that the whole team is very close and all friends.
Former Fever player and current video associate Tully Bevilaqua made the Australian Olympic team back in 2008. Wallace said that Bevilaqua told her to just embrace the moment and enjoy it.
Wallace is the fifth Fever player to be selected to play in the Olympics, joining Natalie Achonwa, Bevilaqua, Tamika Catchings, and Kara Wolters.
The Australian women’s basketball team is currently third in the FIBA world rankings, behind the United States and China. The last time Australia medaled in the Olympics for women’s basketball was in 2012, when the got the bronze medal.
Wallace is averaging 5.0 points per game this season for the Fever. But, she is frequently tasked with guarding the opposing team’s best player on the perimeter.
“That’s what she does, whatever is needed for the team,” Fever head coach Christie Sides said. “She will pick up the best offensive player, defend whoever, be ready to shoot wide open shots when they’re open, (and) run the offense if we need to. She’s just able to help us wherever we need it.”
“I think she does a great job of being the next man up when her number is called,” Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell said. “She does that really, really, well. That’s probably why she’s about to go be an Olympian.”
The Fever return to action on Wednesday against the Mystics. The game will tip off at noon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.