Canada March On in 3x3 World Cup

Canada had impressed so far in the women's tournament of this year's 3x3 World Cup and still had a lot more to show for themselves in what has so far been an unpredictable and high-quality tournament across the board.

Represented by Michell and Katherine Plouffe, Paige Crozon and Kacie Bosch, the team had made short work of their day one opposition, but it was only going to get tougher from now on. When pool play resumed they would face the tournament's fourth and fifth-ranked teams Spain and the Netherlands, with one more win guaranteeing their place in the knockout stage.

The winners of each pool get a bye to the quarter finals, with the remaining places filled by winners of play-in games between teams that finished second and third in their sections. There was everything to play for and teams had every reason to get a win every team in their pursuit of the top prize in Antwerp.

Against Spain, Canada shared and distributed ball early on, with Michelle Plouffe finding open looks for herself. The Spanish shooters levelled the scores, with Marta Carnella then giving the team their first lead. Later Michelle and Katherine Plouffe combined to level the scores with just over a minute to go, after which Carnella hit a two, followed by Paige Crozon from the same spot.

In the last seconds Katherine made a layup and a last chance floater from Carnella fell. The game went to OT, where two successive points in the low post from Aitana Cuevas won the game for Spain.

This loss meant the bye to the semi finals was no longer a possibility for Canada and it was now the fight for second place with the Netherlands. When the teams faced off the Plouffes put up the first six points, giving Canada a four point lead after two minutes. With Michelle and Crozon connecting from outside, with Kacie Bosch also picking up points in the paint, Canada had thirteen points without reply.

Natalie Van Den Adel ended the Dutch cold streak, going on to score four in a row. Michelle followed this up with two from the stripe then tossed a pass to Katherine in the lane, she layed it up and in to seal the 21-12 victory for the Canadians.

Finishing the pool stage in second place, Canada advanced to the play-in round, where awaiting them were Germany. The German team were the tournament's top seeds but had finished their pool in third place following losses to China and Lithuania

Performing pick and roll moves well early on, Canada took the early lead against the Germans, who kept it tight despite being behind. Canada grew their lead with a 6-0 run, to which Germany responded by closing the gap from close range, only for the Canadian lead to grow again behind Katherine and Crozon playing well in the low post.

In the last minute a two from Crozon made it a 20-12 game in Canada's favour, with another two from Katherine sealing the ten-point win for the team. They had prevailed and won their place in the last eight, setting up yet another meeting with their eternal rival team.

Check back here for further updates on their progress and find more on everything that is going on in the 3x3 World Cup over on the official FIBA website.