Kate Thompson can finally go out on a high note.

The last time former Michigan women’s basketball player Thompson took the court as a Wolverine, she left the court with tears pouring down her face. Stanford had just eliminated Michigan in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Scoring just seven points on 1-for-11 shooting, Thompson was distraught following the lopsided 73-40 loss on March 26. But it wasn’t just because of the loss; it was because her time as a Wolverine was over. Even more, her time playing basketball at such a high level of competition appeared to be over too.

But after her time playing for the NetScouts USA Women’s All-Star Team, Thompson got her chance to end her career with a smile.

Thompson was named the MVP of the Dong Xiang region of play as Team USA won the round-robin tournament with a 7-2 record. Thompson scored 14 points in the team’s final two games against Australia and China to earn the award. Her average of 11.3 points per game in the region also helped her earn a spot on the All-Four Nations Tour Team.

Thompson’s post-Michigan career began on March 1, when she was picked to participate in the State Farm Three-Point Championship that took place during the men’s basketball Final Four weekend in Atlanta on April 4. She would make it to the semifinals before being eliminated.

After that, it seemed her basketball career would over. But then, on April 9, Thompson was selected to play for the NetScouts USA Women's All-Star Team.

Thompson was among one of 10 recently graduated college players to be chosen to play for the team. As part of her selection, Thompson participated in a round-robin tournament spanning three different cities in China from May 1-15th against national teams from Brazil, China and Australia.

The first game for Thompson, and the USA squad, was May 3 against China in Nan’an City — the first of three game sites. Playing the position she had become accustomed to in her first three years at Michigan – coming off the bench – Thompson tallied six points on 2-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc.

USA pulled out a 57-56 win in the contest before it completed its last game of the first leg of the round-robin tournament against Brazil with a 51-45 victory. This time around Thompson chipped in five points and four rebounds, as the US outrebounded Brazil, 43-26.

The next game against China proved pivotal as a 66-53 win by China gave both teams a 4-2 record heading into the final stage of the tournament in Dong Xiang.

The game was Thompson’s worst offensive performance of the tournament as she scored just two points as the US shot 31 percent from the field and only 21 percent from beyond the arc.

Heading into the final stage of the tournament tied with China, Team USA needed a clean sweep of its final three games to assure it the title.

With help from Thompson, it would do just that.

It began with a tough game against Brazil, where the Americans trailed by eight at the end of the first quarter. Able to cut the deficit to one at halftime, despite shooting 16 percent from the field, Team USA looked to finally get over the hump in the second half and take the lead.

While their shooting struggles persisted in the second half, the Americans began to drive to the basket more and were able to score 21 points from the charity stripe in the 58-50 victory. Thompson had six points.

With Australia beating China 58-51, USA controlled its own destiny the rest of the way. Heading into its second-to-last game with a 5-2 record (while China and Australia were 4-3) the Americans had to win out to assure themselves first place.

Team USA got out to a strong start against Australia. Thompson was second on the team with 14 points, including 12 of them coming on 3-pointers — a fitting record for someone who ranks second in Michigan program history in career 3-pointers. Thompson’s hot-hand enabled the Americans to shoot 58 percent from three on way to an 85-63 victory. Thompson also added four rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

The final game against China resulted in another outstanding game from Thompson, who hit 4-of-5 3-pointers and scored 14 points in the 66-61 victory.

Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 6,500, the Americans led by one at halftime before putting China away in the second half with tough defense and strong team rebounding.