Last-chance qualifier to decide Canada's Olympic fate in women's 3x3 basketball

Michelle Plouffe, middle, drives to the basket for Canada against Australia’s Anneli Maley and Marena Whittle during the women’s final of an Olympic 3×3 basketball qualification tournament on Sunday in Utsunomiya, Japan. Australia is headed to the Paris Games this summer following a 19-16 win.

Well, at least Canada’s path to a potential Olympic berth in women’s 3×3 basketball no longer includes Australia.

For the second time on the weekend, Australia eked out a victory over the Canadians after pulling away late in Sunday’s championship game in Utsunomiya, Japan, to put the latter’s Paris Summer Games hopes on hold.

Canada finished the Olympic qualification tournament with a 3-2 record and wins over Kenya, Netherlands and Germany in the semifinals earlier Sunday.

Twin sisters Katherine and Michelle Plouffe of Edmonton, Kacie Bosch of Lethbridge, Alta., and Paige Crozon of Humboldt, Sask., have one more chance to qualifying for the Summer Games at a May 16-19 tourney in Debrecen, Hungary.

The top three finishers in that 16-team event will round out the eight-team field in Paris. Host France, the United States, China and Azerbaijan previously qualified.

Canada, the two-time defending Women’s Series champions, won this year’s first stop last week in Springfield, Mass., where they downed the U.S. 20-18 in the final.

Katherine Plouffe was named tournament MVP after scoring seven points against an American team that featured Rhyne Howard, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 WNBA draft and the league’s rookie of the year that season.