3-on-3 tournament brings different style of women's basketball to southern Indiana

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — An organization hosted a unique 3-on-3 women's basketball tournament Sunday in Jeffersonville.

The founder of ALT Basketball Inc., Nick Lopez, said people want to see more exciting, aggressive and high intensity women's basketball. He thinks the answer to increasing enthusiasm about the game starts with altering the rim. The rim is smaller in diameter and sits at 8 feet instead of 10.

Lopez said playing on a smaller rim forces players to be more precise with their shooting, increasing difficulty.

Lowering the rim takes the game's competitiveness up a notch.

ALT is currently going city to city hosting tournaments with the lower and smaller-style rim. Sunday, they hosted the tournament at Nachand Fieldhouse.

Lopez said ALT has a developing pro women's league where maximizing entertainment for women's basketball is priority.

"Where players are used to never having a chance to play around the rim and fade away from contact, now I know if I go to the contact and fight through it and I go to the rim I stand a better chance to gain," Lopez said.

Player Javonna Layfield said fans can expect a different style of play.

"You're going to watch people do things you don't normally see women do," Layfield said.

Layfield plays for Kentucky's only women's semi-pro league OnPoint Swish, but she said she's open to playing in ALT's upcoming games.

ALT Basketball will host another tournament on April 26 with former WNBA player Sara Nord.