Sour Olympic debut for Aussie women 3×3 basketballers
Australia’s women’s 3×3 basketball team have endured a horror Olympic Games debut, tumbling to an eight-point loss to Canada.
The Canadians laid the platform for their comprehensive 22-14 victory on Tuesday with an early blitz at Paris’ Place de la Concorde.
And they sealed the win with one minute and 21 seconds remaining of the 10-minute maximum – the game ends when a team has scored 21 or more points if the time hasn’t expired.
Australia couldn’t find the basket until more than three minutes in – they trailed 0-6 before a Marena Whittle lay-up got her side on the board.
But the Australians continued to struggle for possession and, compounded by some wayward shooting, at one stage trailed 2-15.
A belated rally reduced the final margin but the Aussies were never in the hunt against a Canadian outfit propelled by Katherine Plouffe (10 points) and her sister Michelle (eight points).
Alex Wilson top-scored for Australia with six points, Whittle and Anneli Maley notched four each and Lauren Mansfield was scoreless.
Australia meet Germany on Wednesday before pool games against China and the United States.
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