MONTREAL, Que. (September 2nd, 2022) - The Canadian Women’s 3x3 team opened the FIBA 3x3 Women’s Series Montreal Stop with an undefeated Friday after earning victories over Hungary and the Netherlands.

Paige Crozon led all scorers with a 12-point effort in the team’s first game of the day against Hungary. She connected on five two-point shots as Canada shot 6-for-15 from two, compared to Hungary’s 2-for-10 from distance in the game.

Katherine Plouffe had a game-high seven rebounds as Canada outrebounded Hungary 7-1 on the offensive glass. Michelle Plouffe added six points and three rebounds in the win.

“First of all I'm happy to be in Montreal, we’re back,” Michelle Plouffe said after the game. “Happy to be on home soil and it’s great to start with a wbn. We didn't know what to expect, with some new players with Hungary, but they’re always quick and they’ve got some shooters.”

Klaudia Papp led Hungary with seven points in the loss.

After a free throw from M. Plouffe, a two-point shot from Crozon and then two more free throws from M. Plouffe, Canada had a 5-0 lead before Papp hit a two to get Hungary on the board. Crozon responded with her second two-point shot of the game, putting Canada back in front by five with 8:15 remaining. Papp scored from two again, but Hungary couldn’t slow the Canadians as M. Plouffe found Crozon inside for the layup to give Canada the 8-4 lead. Crozon’s third two in the game extended Canada’s lead to six, 11-5, with 5:58 remaining.

A drive and layup for Crozon made it 13-8 Canada, and then another two-point shot for Crozon extended Canada’s lead to 15-8. A drive from Bosch resulted in a layup that extended the lead to 17-8, and then a two-point bomb from M. Plouffe made it 19-9 Canada with 1:07 remaining. Crozon’s fifth two-point shot of the game clinched the 21-11 victory for Canada with seven seconds remaining on the clock.

In the team’s second game of the day, M. Plouffe and K. Plouffe each finished with five points and 10 rebounds as Canada used a dominant effort on the glass to pull away and earn a 16-8 victory against the Netherlands. Canada outrebounded the Netherlands 30-15 in the win, including 11-4 on the offensive glass in a game that was slow-scoring to start.

Though M. Plouffe scored the first point of the game, the Netherlands came right back as Bettonvil scored while being fouled and then made the free throw to give the Netherlands a 2-1 lead. M. Plouffe then found K. Plouffe for an easy two to tie the game. A two-point shot from Crozon gave Canada a 6-5 lead, and M. Plouffe got her own offensive rebound and scored to extend Canada’s lead to two points, but Bettonvil scored and was fouled for the Netherlands once again, this time tying the game at seven points apiece.

A drive to the hoop from Bosch put Canada back in front by a point and it was all Canada from there as the Canadians closed the final 4:55 on a 9-1 run, en route to the 16-8 victory.

M. Plouffe had six highlights in the victory, as well as two key assists. Bettonvil led the Netherlands with five points and five rebounds in the loss.

“We started with some heat back in 2019, we weren’t very good on the court, but we had the passion, the commitment,” Katherine Plouffe said. “That just drives our team. We really like playing with each other, I don't know if you can tell, we laugh on the court and in our timeouts, except it was a little spicy in this game, but we enjoy playing with each other and I think that fuels us.”