Canadian Women’s 3x3 team goes up to 2-0 at Olympics

After a dominant win over no.1 ranked team China, Canada is now undefeated in 3x3 pool play.

Women’s 3x3 pool play continued this afternoon in Paris, and Canada’s team was up against the top team in the World — China. The Canadian squad of Michelle and Katherine Plouffe, Paige Crozon, and Kacie Bosch were hoping to bring their record up to 2-0.

If you missed the recap of yesterday’s debut game, with a short beginner lesson on the rules of Olympic 3x3 basketball, check it out here.

Canada started the game hot, just like they did against Australia yesterday. Seemingly part of their game plan, the team has been playing fast and physically — trying to get ahead in points quickly and make it hard for their opponents to recover. It helps that they’ve been on shooting the lights out as well.

On the defensive end, their in your face defence has been effective in disorientating their opponents, but the whistle has not been going their way. In yesterday’s game, Australia was fighting back and therefore also getting called for fouls. Today, it seemed like China’s approach was a little bit more subtle.

Yet, while Canada racked up fouls in today’s game, China did not convert all of those free throw chances into points — and every point counts in this game.

Instead, Canada cooled off on the physical defence after going into the bonus and instead focused on playing fast and scoring. The team truly looked like a well oiled machine, weaving in and out of each other on the court and getting more opportunities both at the basket and from distance. They make a very fast-paced and difficult game look easy, and cruised to a 21-11 victory — ending the game early yet again.

Michelle Plouffe and Paige Crozon each ended the game with 7 points, Katherine Plouffe had 5 points, and Kacie Bosch had 2.

Mid-way through day two of pool play, Canada sits atop the rankings. Not only do they now have a record of 2-0 — the only team so far to have played two games and won both. They also have finished both games early by hitting the 21 point mark, so they also lead the standings in overall points.

Canada will now play their first two-game day tomorrow as they work to stay atop the standings as we progress through the pool stage.

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Up Next for Canada Basketball:

Women’s 3x3:

-August 1st, 3:30am ET vs Germany

-August 1st, 4pm ET vs France

Women’s 5x5:

-August 1st, 7:30am ET vs Australia

Men’s 5x5:

-August 2nd, 11:15am ET vs Spain