Hoop dreams, realized: The Plouffe twins, turned trio, dominate new sport

In 2019, Katherine Plouffe, Comm '14, her twin sister Michelle, and a teammate approached the Canadian basketball federation with an audacious pitch: Let us build a new program from scratch.  

The trio, who had each represented their country internationally, had been tracking the rise of 3×3, a quick, half-court version of basketball featuring three players per side. The international federation FIBA was launching a women's world tour, with the sport's Olympic debut on the horizon at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Canada Basketball gave its blessing, but the onus was on the players. Plouffe and her teammates paid their own way. "We were a startup," Plouffe recalls. "We had never played a 3×3 tournament. We were just willing and excited to do something that had potential - to get Canada to the Olympics in 3×3."

By the end of that season, they were ranked in the top three on the world tour, proof enough for Canada to establish a fully funded program. As for Plouffe (shown celebrating, far left), the experience helped her fall back in love with the sport, rediscovering the joy and camaraderie she felt while earning First Team All-Big East and Big East Scholar Athlete of the Year honors for the Golden Eagles.

"In pursuing excellence, there has to be a focus on the process and not the outcome," Plouffe says. "3×3 was a vehicle for me to embrace that philosophy. We were starting from the literal ground. We had to be openhanded."

Just a few years later, Canada is considered one of the powers in the sport. The Plouffe twins have been central to that rise, helping their country secure a silver medal at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 World Cup and a spot at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Katherine has won FIBA 3×3 Women's Series titles in 2022, 2023 and 2025 - twice with her sister by her side. "There are not a lot of twins who get to compete together," Plouffe says. "Especially in a team sport - it's rare. It's special to share the journey together."