Cassandra Brown and Team Canada win third FIBA 3×3 Women’s Basketball World Series event Sept. 14 in China

Her last basket in China resulted in a gold medal for Cassandra Brown.

The Vernon basketball star’s final points at the FIBA 3X3 Women’s Series Final in Shanghai Sunday, Sept. 14, gave Canada a 21-12 win over Azerbaijan in the final, and the red-and-white’s third series title.

The Canadians earned Women’s Series title No. 3 in strong fashion, winning two of their three pool games to book a spot straight into the semis.

They handled business against Spain, coming away with a 21-11 win to book a finals matchup with Azerbaijan, a repeat of their first pool game in Shanghai that saw Canada win handedly. 

Azerbaijan, though, were firing on all cylinders on Day 2, defeating the likes of CS Rapid Bucharest, Ulaanbaatar and the dominant, top-ranked Netherlands side to earn their place in the final. 

The championship battle against Azerbaijan showcased just how dominant Canada is in all facets of the game.

They came in firing from deep, wreaking havoc from two-point range as they jumped out to a 10-2 lead within the early minutes of the contest. Azerbaijan went to the dominant Brianna Fraser who caused problems for the Canadians in the paint, but Canada forged ahead thanks to their own inside presence in tournament MVP Saicha Grant-Allen (Hamilton, Ont.) and Paige Crozon (Humboldt, Sask).

Brown and Katherine Plouffe (Edmonton) made timely buckets to pull them further closer to the elusive title. 

It was Brown who sealed the deal for Canada, a 21-12 victory as they won a record-high third Women’s Series 2025 title in Shanghai.  

Grant-Allen scored 25 points and finished with a player value score of 32.0.Â