On Feb, 10, 2024, Serbia beat Brazil in the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament and punched their tickets to Paris. That win wouldn’t have been possible without Yvonne Anderson, the 5-foot-6 guard born in Springdale, AR who handles the playmaking duties for the White Eagles, as the Balkan team is known. In this three-part deep dive, we get into Anderson’s performance that day, explain how she got there and what made her the player and the person that she is today.
A game more specific to our family is probably a game called “Burn.” It’s American football-based, but it’s basically just like a 1-on-1 matchup along with a quarterback. You decide a route with your quarterback, someone has to play defense against you and you have four tries (or downs) to get a touchdown. We would play this growing up, usually with a bunch of disposable paper Gatorade cups we stepped on to compact them together, which allowed them to be thrown without falling apart.
With two minutes left in the first quarter, Anderson is back on the court. She picks her route, drives to the basket and gets a foul call. The Brazilians get her down, but she releases the ball in time to earn two free throws. She drains both. First down. During the next offensive possession, she’s fouled…
