Canada’s first two matches at the women’s 3×3 basketball World Cup couldn’t have gone much better.
The Canadians dismissed Chile 21-10 before downing Israel 22-5 on the first day of competition on Tuesday in Antwerp, Belgium.
Versus Chile, Canada opened an early 12-6 lead and never looked back, extending their advantage to 19-9 before finishing off their opponents by reaching 21 points before time expired.
Kacie Bosch, the 25-year-old from Lethbridge, Alta., led the team with seven points while veteran Katherine Plouffe, the 29-year-old from Edmonton, Alta., contributed six points.
Later, Paige Crozon led the way in a blowout of Israel.
The 27-year-old Humboldt, Sask., native scored 11 points on the strength of four two-pointers. Baskets in 3×3 are worth one point inside the arc, and two points beyond the arc. Games are played until one team reaches 21 points or 15 minutes expires, whichever comes first.
The sport made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, but neither of Canada’s men’s or women’s teams qualified.
Canada, ranked 13th, is grouped with No. 4 Spain, No. 5 the Netherlands, No. 11 Israel and No. 14 Chile in Pool D. The top three teams reach the playoffs, with the first-place finisher in each pool qualifying directly for the quarter-finals. Each match in the knockout rounds is single-elimination.
Canada returns to the court on Thursday with games versus Spain at noon ET and versus the fifth-ranked Dutch at 3:10 p.m. ET. Qualifiers run through Friday, with the final 16 and quarter-final rounds taking place Saturday and the semifinals and medal games on Sunday.
