Former Utes Michelle Plouffe, Paige Crozon fall short of Olympic medal

Canada and the United States lost in heartbreakers in their 3x3 women’s basketball semifinal matchups at the Olympics on Monday.

The Americans, though, got some redemption in the bronze-medal game, as the United States rallied to beat Canada 16-13 on Monday.

In turn, the loss for Canada meant that a pair of former University of Utah stars — Michelle Plouffe and Paige Crozon — came up agonizingly short of a medal in the Canadians’ first appearance in 3x3 basketball at the Olympics.

The U.S. team, which overcame some early Olympic struggles to earn their way into the medal rounds, was led by Hailey Van Lith, who had 6 points and two rebounds in the bronze-medal matchup.

Canada — which was coached by another former Ute, Kim Smith Gauchier — led 7-3 early in the defensive struggle, and that included an early 2-pointer from Plouffe to start the scoring. The Americans, though, rallied and eventually tied the game at 12-12 with 1:59 to play.

Plouffe’s twin sister, Katherine Plouffe, briefly gave Canada its last lead at 13-12, scoring off a steal from Michelle Plouffe.

The United States, though, closed strong to earn the bronze.

The Americans’ Dearica Hamby hit a 1-pointer inside and was fouled with 1:17 left, and Hamby’s free throw gave the United States their first lead at 14-13.

Canada couldn’t hit a shot in the final minute, and the Americans wrapped up the win with two more free throws in the final minute.

Katherine Plouffe led Canada with 5 points and five rebounds in the game, while Michelle Plouffe had 3 points and six rebounds, though she made just 2 of 7 shots, including going 1 of 6 from 2-point range.

Crozon added 2 points, though she also struggled from outside, going 1 of 5 from 2-point range. Two of those misses came in the final minute.

For the United States, who won gold in the 2021 Olympics, Hamby added 3 points and six rebounds, while Rhyne Howard scored 4 points.

How Canada and the United States ended up in the bronze-medal game

In the semifinals, Canada fell to Germany 16-15, while the United States lost 18-16 to Spain in overtime.

At one point, it looked like Plouffe and Crozon had a prime opportunity to play for gold with the Canadian team before they lost to Germany on a last-second shot.

Sonja Greinacher’s basket in the lane bounced off the rim and then went in with just over one second to play, giving the Germans the victory.

Canada appeared well on its way to victory, up 10-6 as Crozon scored 4 points in the early going, including a straightaway 2-pointer that gave Canada a 7-4 lead with 6:38 to play, though Canada’s seventh foul of the game two minutes later was a turning point.

Germany converted that foul into 2 points via the free-throw line, and it started a 5-0 run for the Germans to go up 11-10.

The game went back and forth after that, with Katherine Plouffe scoring on a putback to make it 15-15 with 14 seconds to play.

The Germans, though, converted on their final possession with Greinacher’s game-winner to clinch their spot in the gold-medal game.

In their semifinal, the United States led by as many as 5 points against Spain before Spain tied the game up twice in the final 35 seconds of regulation to force overtime with the score locked at 16-16.

Spain got the opening possession of overtime — in 3x3 basketball, the first team to score 2 points wins — and missed the first shot in OT, but got an important offensive rebound and turned it into a 1-point layup from Sandra Ygueravide.

After Rhyne Howard missed a 2-point shot that would have won it for the Americans, the United States’ Dearica Hamby fouled Ygueravide.

Ygueravide then sealed the win at the free-throw line, hitting a free throw to move the Spaniards on to the gold-medal game with the 18-16 victory.