Springfield, Mass. (April 24, 2024) - Canada's 3x3 Women's National Team picked up where they left off last season, opening the 2024 FIBA 3x3 Womens Series with an undefeated series stop in Springfield.

Team Canada (Kacie Bosch, Paige Crozon, Katherine Plouffe and Michelle Plouffe) defeated Team USA 20-18 in the final to claim the tour stop victory. Katherine Plouffe was named Springfield MVP as she led the event in highlights (20), key assists (15) and rebounds (24), while finishing third in points scored (29). Michelle Plouffe finished second in scoring (33 points).

The Canadians were a perfect 5-0 in Springfield, taking down Puerto Rico, Germany and Springfield on Day 1 and then defeating Springfield again in the semifinals of Day 2 to advance to the Final against USA.

Michelle Plouffe led all scorers with eight points in the final, while Katherine added seven points and five rebounds while recording five highlights. Paige Crozon added five points, including a two-pointer with 38 seconds remaining to break a tie and give Canada a 19-17 lead. After a bucket inside from USA’s Cierra Burdick, Katherine scored to put Canada back in front by two with 15 seconds remaining. After a miss from Rhyne Howard, Canada claimed the victory.

The Canadians cruised to a 21-13 victory over Springfield in the semifinal behind a 10-point effort from Crozon who was 4-for-6 from the floor, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc to break the game open.

Canada led throughout as back-to-back two-pointers from Crozon extended the advantage to 11 points, 18-7, with 3:11 remaining. Allisha Gray scored the next five straight points for Springfield, but a free throw from Michelle Plouffe had Canada just a point away from victory with 2:04 on the clock. Crozon ended the game with a drive to the basket to give Canada the 21-13 victory.

Canada kicked off Day 1 action with a 21-10 victory against Puerto Rico behind seven points from Katherine Plouffe and six points from Crozon. Puerto Rico shot just 4-for-12 in the game, compared to Canada’s 8-for-11 shooting. Canada also outrebounded Puerto Rico 14-7. Katherine Plouffe was perfect from the floor against Puerto Rico, making all five of her field goal attempts and both of her free throws. After back-to-back two-pointers from Crozon, Bosch hit a two-pointer of her own as Canada opened a double-digit lead and they didn’t look back.

In Canada’s 21-14 victory against Germany to open play at the event, Michelle Plouffe had 10 points and Katherine Plouffe added seven rebounds and five highlights as Canada outrebounded Germany 19-8 en route to victory.  

With the game tied at nine points apiece, Michelle Plouffe made a free throw to move Canada in front. She then found Katherine cutting to the hoop for a layup. Michelle's third two-pointer of the game gave Canada its first three-point lead of the game, 14-11, with under three minutes to go. After free throws for Katherine gave Canada a four-point advantage,18-14, a layup for Bosch gave Canada 19 points, setting up Michelle Plouffe to make a two-pointer to give Canada the 21-14 victory with 1:09 remaining on the clock.

The next FIBA 3x3 Women’s Series stop will be in Marseille, France on May 29-30.