ANTWERP, BELGIUM (June 21, 2022) - The Canadian Women’s 3x3 team got off to a fantastic start at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup 2022 in Antwerp, Belgium on Tuesday. After kicking off play with a 21-10 victory over Chile, Canada turned in a dominant 22-5 victory against Israel.

In Canada’s first win of the day, It was Kacie Bosch who led the team with seven points on 4-for-5 shooting for one-point shots and 1-for-3 shooting on two-point shots. Katherine Plouffe had six points and five rebounds to record a D5, in her first game back since the FIBA 3x3 Women’s Series Bucharest Final 2021, where Canada finished second.

“It’s alway a pleasure to get to play with her,” Michelle Plouffe said of her sister’s return to the court. “We have a lot of fun. We get at each other training, so it’s always fun to put the same jersey on and play together.”

Michelle Plouffe opened the scoring against Chile, but Chile responded with a long two-point shot before Katherine Plouffe responded with a bucket for Canada to tie the game and then hit a two-point shot to give Canada a 4-3 lead with 8:48 remaining. Canada continued to score from long-range as Paige Crozon drilled a long two-point shot to put Canada ahead 6-2 lead and then it was Bosch to score for two, making it 8-2 Canada.

A steal from M. Plouffe resulted in a two-point shot to give Canada a 12-6 advantage as the teams went into a timeout with 6:27 remaining. Chile scored a two-point shot out of the timeout, but Canada followed that up with Bosch finding K. Plouffe for an easy bucket.

After a long two from Crozon extended Canada’s lead to 17-9, Bosch scored on a layup while getting fouled. Bosch scored on the free thow to make it a two-point possession, giving Canada a 19-9 lead with 4:10 remaining. Bosch again drove baseline to give Canada 20 points, setting up game-point and then K. Plouffe scored at the line to get the 21-10 victory against Chile.

“I’m really proud,” Michelle Plouffe said. “We had a short training camp, we had some good preparation and I'm just proud of how we continue to fight together. If we get down, it hasn’t happened yet in this tournament, [but if it does], we fight back to the end. We play together, we play with heart and I love this group.”

In Canada’s second game of the day, it was Crozon who was feeling it. Though Israel scored the first point of the game, Bosch quickly responded with a layup. With the game tied at two points apiece, Crozon found Bosch for an easy reverse layup. It was then Crozon who got to the line for a free throw. After a layup from Crozon, Israel scored to trim Canada’s lead to two points, 5-3 at the 6:54 mark.

‍Out of the timeout M. Plouffe scored on a two-point shot, and then quickly followed it up with a layup put Canada ahead 8-3 with 6:22 remaining. After a bucket and free throw from M. Plouffe off of a Crozon assist, Canada led 11-3.

‍Immediately after checking back into the game, Crozon went to work, hitting back-to-back two point shots to give Canada a 15-3 advantage. Crozon followed that up with her third two-point shot of the game to give Canada an 18-4 lead. Crozon’s fourth two-point shot was game-point for Canada, 20-4, and then K. Plouffe drove and kicked the ball out to Crozon for the game-winning two-point shot.

Crozon finished with a game-high 11 points, shooting 4-for-6 from long range, and 5-for-7 overall.

Up next, Canada will face Spain on Thursday, June 23 at 12 p.m. ET. In the final session of the day, Canada will take on the Netherlands at 3:10 p.m. ET.

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