3x3 Women's Series in Edmonton - Day One Recap

For the first time since winning World Cup silver, Canada 3x3 women's team were back doing their thing, this time at Edmonton's Ice Center as they made their first appearance of the 2022 Women's Series on home soil.

The World Cup team - Kacie Bosch, Paige Crozon, Katherine and Michelle Plouffe - all returned for the first of three Women's Series tournaments to be played in Canada in the 2022. They and the seven other teams began playing in pools of four, the winners advancing to the semi-finals and second and third in each group getting one last chance to stay in the competition.

The Edmonton tournament opened with a thriller between Germany and Exewing from Japan, who were evenly matched at the beginning of their matchup though Natalie Kucowski was keeping the Japanese team in front.

Sonja Greinacher hit four in a row for Germany to keep it close, in response Exewing hit three two-pointers in a row for a five-point advantage, with Camille Zimmerman later putting them a point away from victory. There was a final twist to come: Germany's Alexandra Wilke closed the gap to one and Luana Rodefeld drew a foul and hit two from the stripe

The games that followed were far more one-sided: France beat US outfit Force 10 by seven and the USA defeated the Netherlands 21-12. Canada opened in dominant fashion against Romania, where Paige Crozon was on fire, hitting five from beyond the arc and three more in the paint. She was the leading individual show for Canada in their mauling of Romania.

There was more tension to be had when Exewing met the Netherlands: both teams played heavy defence, not allowing each other any easy chances. The slender lead kept changing hands into the final seconds, where Camille Zimmerman made the game-winning shot for Exewing, the final score 14-13.

Following this, Germany and the USA tried to make it two-for-two, but only one could come away with the win. The Americans were quick to surge ahead but Sonja Greinacher was quick to keep the gap close for the Germans. All on the American team kept finding open looks from close range but every time they tried to break away, Germany tied the scores from beyond the arc.

With the scores tied in the final seconds, Breanna Richardson hit one for the USA from the line, which would be the game-winning shot. More drama followed as Canada looked to continue their win streak against France, where the home team managed to hold an early lead, which Crozon, again from outside, made five halfway through the game.

Marie Mane closed the gap to one for the French, Canada responded with an 8-1 run ahead of the last thirty seconds. Canada could not get to the game-ending 21 points, but left France with too little time to make a comeback. The hosts had defeated their toughest pool opponents 20-17 and rode that momentum into their final match-up with Force10.

The teams exchanged baskets early on until the Plouffe twins combined to put Canada in front, with the whole team contributing to a 6-1 run at the mid-point. Force10 tried to keep themselves in it, finding close-range scoring chances, but so were Canada. Katherine hit the last three of her game-high eleven points to make it a one-point game, with Michelle then putting to bed from beyond the arc.

The 21-16 win over Force10 means Canada finished the pool stage undefeated and get a bye to the semi-finals on day two. Joining them would be the USA, who also finished perfect with a narrow defeat of Exewing. For the first five minutes a point stood between the two teams until Lianne Harper hit a two-pointer to put the USA's lead at four.

It took some time for Exewing to respond, but after three from beyond the arc the game was tied. Exewing fought to get possession back from the Americans on the final play, but a put back shot from Breanna Richardson brought the game to a close.

France and Germany finished day one with wins over Romania and the Netherlands respectively. This sees France face Exewing in the quarter-finals and Germany play Force10 - the winner of which would meet Canada for a place in the final.

After an action-packed first day in Edmonton, hopefully there will be more of the same as the tournament enters its business end the next day. Check back here for the full story on the knockout stage and for more head over to the official FIBA 3x3 Women's Series website.