Canada dropped a 16-13 decision to France in the women’s gold-medal match at the FIBA 3×3 Basketball World Cup on Sunday in Antwerp, Belgium.
France led 15-13 when Marie-eve Paget went to the foul line with 3.1 seconds on the clock. She missed her first free throw but made good on the second for the country’s first women’s title and first medal since it picked up silver at the inaugural tournament in 2012.
“The Canada team is really a great team,” said Paget. “You’re not in the final if you’re not a great team. We played against them in a friendly game before the World Cup and we lost twice, so this is revenge.”
Canada appeared set to tie the contest 15-15 in the final minute but Katherine Plouffe clipped ankles with an opponent while driving to the net.
Hortense Limouzin scored on a fadeaway jumper to give France a three-point lead with less than a minute to play but Katherine Plouffe responded to make it a two-point game.
Michelle Plouffe deflected the ball out of bounds off a French player to give Canada possession with 17.2 seconds left. However, the Canadians were unable to score on their next possession.
Laetitia Guapo’s free throw opened up a 12-7 lead for France with 4:30 remaining. But the Canadians couldn’t narrow the deficit as Katherine Plouffe missed a shot in tight and Paige Crozon failed to connect from the two-point arc.
Limouzin made it 14-8 before a resilient bunch from Canada stepped up its play. Strong work by Katherine Plouffe and her sister moved the Canadians to within 14-12 with 2:05 to play following a missed deuce by Paget.
