PARIS, France (August 2, 2024)—The Canadian Women’s 3x3 Team suffered a pair of overtime losses on Friday. First, they lost to the United States 18-17 in overtime and then to Spain 22-20 in overtime to fall to 3-3 in pool play at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“Two really tough games today,” Paige Crozon said. “Obviously, to lose overtime twice on a last-minute two stinks. Definitely not what we hoped for, but I know that our team is really resilient. We have strong spirits. We've been in positions where we had to battle before, so tomorrow is a huge game for us, and I think it's all about rest and recovery and our preparation against Azerbaijan.”

Katherine Plouffe scored a game-high 10 points in Canada’s loss to the Americans, while Rhyne Howard led the U.S. with six points, including her two-pointer of the game in overtime, which gave the USA the win.

The teams traded baskets until a two-pointer from Michelle Plouffe and a shot inside from Katherine Plouffe gave Canada a three-point advantage, 15-12, with under two minutes remaining. After Cierra Burdick and Katherine Plouffe traded shots, Canada still led by three. Howard scored for the U.S. to trim the advantage to two points and then Hailey Van Lith connected from deep to tie the game at 16 points and force overtime. 

Canada opened the extra session strong, with a block from Michelle Plouffe, before finding Katherine Plouffe for a basket that gave Canada a 17-16 advantage. However, Howard drilled the game-winning two-pointer to seal the victory.

In Canada’s second game of the day, Michelle Plouffe scored 11 points and six rebounds, Katherine Plouffe added six points and five rebounds, while Sandra Ygueravide's 10 points led Spain to the win.

Canada opened the game with buckets from the two Plouffe sisters to take a two-point lead but quickly racked up three fouls in the first two minutes of the game. After Spain moved in front, Crozon tied the game at seven points apiece with 6:13 remaining. Katherine Plouffe gave Canada an 8-7 lead, but Ygueravide connected from deep to move Spain back in front.

Free throws for Gimeno extended Spain’s lead to three as Canada went over the foul limit with 5:02 remaining. After more free throws, this time from Ygueravide, Spain led 14-10 with 3:19 remaining. A two-point play from Michelle Plouffe cut the lead in half, but Gimeno hit a two to give Spain the 16-12 advantage with 2:12 remaining.

Free throws for Canada brought Canada back within a point, but Ygueravide again connected from long range to put Spain up three with 1:24 remaining. Canada fought back, as Michelle scored three straight points to give Canada a 19-18 advantage with 31 seconds remaining. After Ygueravide drilled a two, Michelle Plouffe tied things at 20 points to force overtime. In the extra session, Ygueravide stumbled but regained possession and scored her fourth two-pointer of the game to give Spain the victory.

Spain was 6-for-12 from beyond the arc, compared to just 1-for-7 shooting from deep for Canada. 

“They're a great team,” Crozon said. “They're a seasoned team. We've been battling with them for years, so we knew that it was going to be a battle, and I'm really proud of our efforts. I think we could have cleaned up some of the few of their offensive rebounds, but I think defensively, we were so strong, and the battle we were getting, it was really physical. We were getting hit down low and we unfortunately weren't getting the calls tonight, but we're able to be resilient and battle back.”

After playing six games in four days, Canada will regroup before taking on Azerbaijan at 11:30 a.m. ET/8:30 a.m. PT on Saturday.