Team Canada’s women’s 3×3 team qualify for Paris 2024
Team Canada’s women’s 3×3 team has made history becoming the nation’s first-ever 3×3 team to secure a ticket to the Olympic Games. The Canadians took down Hungary in their last chance to qualify for Paris 2024, at the FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Debrecen, Hungary.
The team of Paige Crozon, Kacie Bosch, Katherine Plouffe, Michelle Plouffe, and alternate Cassandra Brown were down to their last chance after losing to Spain 19-18 in the semifinal earlier in the day. They rallied back to defeat Hungary 21-10 in the must-win game.
“We’re just so grateful, our team, we have so much joy and gratitude to be here,” said Katherine Plouffe after the win over Hungary. “We believed. There’s no easy games here, Hungary’s a great team.”
Canada finished atop Pool B with a perfect 3-0 record. They opened up with a 21-11 win over Chile, followed by a 19-16 win against Lithuania. In their last round robin game on Saturday, they defeated Czechia 17-10.
Canada cruised past Italy in their quarterfinal match with a score of 21-8. Crozon and Katherine Plouffe both scored nine points in the win over Italy, which saw the Canadians roar out of the gate on a 9-1 run.
READ: Team Canada’s women’s 3×3 team makes push for Paris while prioritizing passion
The decorated Canadian quartet narrowly missed qualifying at the last universality tournament in Utsunomiya, Japan, in early May, falling to Team Australia 19-16 in the final.
Team Canada boasts a stellar record as back-to-back FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series champions, 2022 AmeriCup champions and 2022 World Cup silver medallists. The team enters the tournament seeded second in the FIBA 3×3 OQT standings.
The Canadian men’s team of Jerome Desrosiers, Bikramjit Gill, Alex Johnson, and Kamar McKnight were also in action in Pool C. After opening with an 18-14 win over Spain, tgey dropped their second and third matches to Egypt (21-18) and France (21-11).