FARGO, N.D. – Former North Dakota State women’s basketball player Marena Whittle has been named to the four-member Australian women’s 3×3 basketball team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Whittle played for the Bison from 2012-16 and earned a spot on the All-Summit League First Team in 2016. The Victoria, Australia native ranks sixth all-time in NDSU history with 921 rebounds and surpassed the 1,000 career points mark with 1,315 points over four seasons.
Whittle, who will be making her Olympic debut, has helped Australia win gold at the 2024 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup, silver at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup and bronze at the 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup. Australia will be making its first appearance in the 3×3 basketball discipline. 3×3 basketball debuted in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Whittle joins former Bison Payton Otterdahl at the Paris Olympics after he qualified as a member of Team USA in the shot put for the second time in his career earlier this year.
The 3×3 basketball competition will be held from July 30 to Aug. 5 at the La Concorde venue in Paris.
NDSU’s Summer Olympians
Brad Rheingans (1976, Montreal, Greco-Roman heavyweight, USA)
John Morgan (1988, Seoul, Greco-Roman middleweight, USA)
Janet Cobbs (1992, Barcelona, volleyball, USA)
Tamara Brudy (1996, Atlanta, 4x400m relay, Saint Kitts and Nevis)
Amanda Smock (2012, London, triple jump, USA)
Erin Teschuk (2016, Rio, 3000m steeplechase, Canada)
Payton Otterdahl (2021, Tokyo, shot put, USA)
Payton Otterdahl (2024, Paris, shot put, USA)
Marena Whittle (2024, Paris, 3×3 basketball, Australia)
About 3×3 Basketball
3X3 basketball is played on one half of a basketball court where two teams of three players compete. Both teams attack and defend the same hoop, depending on who has possession of the ball. The winner is the team with the highest score at the end of 10 minutes or the first team to reach 21 points. The three‑point line in conventional basketball serves as the two-point line in 3X3 basketball, with shots made outside the line earning two points and those inside it one.