TORONTO (May 2, 2024)— Canada Basketball announced Thursday the Canadian Women’s 3x3 National Team, which will represent Canada this weekend at the FIBA 3x3 Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2 2024.

The FIBA 3x3 Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2 2024 will be held in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, from Friday, May 3, to Sunday, May 5, 2024. Canada must finish first in the tournament to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Michelle and Katherine Plouffe, Paige Crozon, and Kacie Bosch will reunite at the FIBA 3x3 Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2 2024 as they look to qualify Canada for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The team is coming off their second consecutive FIBA 3x3 Women's Series title, having won five stops last season, including a thrilling victory over rival France in the Ulaanbaatar final in Mongolia last September. Canada dominated the FIBA 3x3 Women’s Series last season, winning a staggering 39 of 44 games (.886 winning percentage), and will look to continue that success this week.  Former Senior Women’s National Team captain and three-time Olympian Kim Gaucher will coach Canada.  

Canada is in Pool B for the FIBA 3x3 Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2 2024 and will face 24th-ranked Kenya (2:50 a.m. ET, May 3), 8th-ranked Netherlands (2:25 a.m. ET, May 4), and 23rd-ranked Australia (5:55 a.m. ET) in pool play.  The top two teams from each pool will advance directly to the semifinals, with the winners of each facing off for a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The full matchup schedule is available on the official FIBA 3x3 Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2 2024 website.

Fans in Canada can catch all the action streaming across CBC digital platforms, including the free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca and CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices or FIBA 3x3 YouTube.  

Three of the five Canadians rank in the top 5 of the FIBA 3x3 Individual Player Rankings, with twins Katherine and Michelle ranked first and second, respectively, and Paige ranked fourth in the world. The Plouffe sisters are looking to return to the Olympic Games after proudly representing as Senior Women’s National Team members at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Originally from Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Crozon was a fixture for Canada last season as she appeared in ten 3x3 tournaments, including the FIBA 3x3 World Cup 2023 and the FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup 2023. Bosch made the jump to 3x3 in 2021 after a successful collegiate career that saw her play for her hometown University of Lethbridge, where she was named a two-time Canada West Second All-Star Team with the Pronghorns. 

After being granted Olympic status in 2017, 3x3 basketball debuted four years ago at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Eight men's and eight women's teams will compete at the 3x3 event from July 30 to August 5, held at the iconic Place de la Concorde in the heart of Paris. Six teams, three countries per gender, have already automatically qualified for Paris 2024 based on the FIBA 3x3 Federation Ranking as of November 1, 2023.

Canada qualified for this FIBA 3x3 Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2 by finishing sixth at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup 2023.

Canada as a federation is currently ranked seventh in the FIBA 3x3 Federation Rankings, while Canada’s women’s team is currently ranked first in the FIBA 3x3 Team Rankings following a dominant opening women's series stop win in Springfield, Massachusetts a week ago.