She’s representing Canada in women’s 3×3 basketball!
Sometimes you just have to tip your cap where necessary, and we have to tip our cap to the NCAA here. They made a sortable database of every current or former NCAA athlete that is competing at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, and because of that, we know we have a Marquette athlete to watch!
The athlete in question? Former women’s basketball forward Katherine Plouffe!
Plouffe played for Marquette between 2010 and 2014, earning First Team All-Big East honors as a senior. She finished her Marquette career with 1,551 points, which is now #13 all time, and she’s still #5 all time in rebounds at 973, the best total in MU history without hitting that magical 1,000 mark. Plouffe is also top 10 in free throws made and blocks. She set the program record for rebounds in a game when she pulled in 26 against Indiana State in the 2014 WNIT, and on March 1, 2014, Plouffe broke Krystal Ellis’ record for points in a game at the McGuire Center for a MU player, putting up 33 against Creighton. That record was passed by Selena Lott in 2020, tho.
The native of Edmonton is representing Canada in the 3×3 basketball tournament. She’s playing with twin sister Michelle along with Kacie Bosch and Paige Crozon, and the Canadians are coached by Kim Gaucher. Team Canada earned their spot in France by way of the 2024 Qualifying Tournament in May. They won their group to advance to knock out rounds where they beat Italy but lost to Spain before needing to beat Hungary in the third place game in order to qualify.
The tournament will be a round robin with all eight teams playing each other once. The top two teams in the standings after seven contests will go straight to the semifinals while teams 3 through 6 will play in the quarterfinals/play-in round with the winners advancing. How do you win a 3×3 game? Easy, it’s just like a playground game: First to 21 wins. The Olympics want this to be exciting, so it’s also “most points after 10 minutes wins.”
Every game for the Canadians will be broadcast in the United States on Peacock at the very least. We’re talking about Team Canada here, so there’s no guarantee that Plouffe will appear on broadcast television in the States. I have read through the NBC schedule and added networks where I think it’s applicable, but I’m not 100% sure I have it right because they’re doing a poor job of coming straight out and saying what will or will not be broadcast in various windows.
Tuesday, July 30: vs Australia, 11am Central, NBC
Wednesday, July 31: vs China, 11am Central, E!
Thursday, August 1: vs Germany, 2:30am Central
Thursday, August 1: vs France, 3pm Central
Friday, August 2: vs United States, 11am Central, NBC
Friday, August 2: vs Spain, 2pm Central
Saturday, August 3: vs Azerbaijan, 10:30am Central
In a “fun” twist, the play-in games will be contested just hours after group play concludes on August 3rd. If Canada plays there, those games will be at 2:30pm and 3:05pm Central time, and it appears that USA will pick up the broadcast on the second game.
The semifinals and medal games are all scheduled for Monday, August 5th. The semifinals will be at 10:30am and 11:30am Central time, the Bronze Medal game will be at 2pm Central, and the Gold Medal game is scheduled for 3pm Central. USA will broadcast the semifinals, E! gets the Bronze Medal game, and NBC will show the Gold Medal game.