Flau’jae Johnson’s first USA Basketball 3x3 AmeriCup ended with a silver medal. Canada defeated the United States 21–12 in the women’s final Sunday, November 1, in San Salvador, El Salvador, giving the Seattle Storm guard a podium finish after her rookie WNBA season. Canada Basketball’s tournament recap confirms the final score.
Johnson scored four points in the championship game, according to USA Basketball’s November 2 report. Her teammates were Aziaha James, Aerial Powers and Sydney Taylor. Together, they reached the final without a loss before running into a Canadian team built around experienced 3x3 players.
A medal run with a tighter finish
The Americans had room to breathe in pool play, beating Colombia 21–7 and the Cayman Islands 21–4. Johnson led the scoring against the Cayman Islands with eight points.
The elimination games required more work. USA Basketball records a 21–18 quarterfinal victory over Paraguay and a 21–17 semifinal win against Cuba. Johnson contributed three points and six rebounds in the semifinal, while Taylor supplied 10 points and the winning basket.
A short tournament asks readers to hold two ideas together: reaching the final is an achievement, and the final can still expose a gap. Neither conclusion needs to erase the work that came before it.
That sequence gives Seattle readers a more complete account than the medal alone: two comfortable pool wins, two closer knockout victories and a final in which the Americans could not keep pace.
Canada brought a veteran 3x3 core
The winning roster included Katherine Plouffe, Michelle Plouffe, Paige Crozon and Cassandra Brown. In its pre-tournament announcement, Canada Basketball identified the Plouffe sisters and Crozon as Olympians and described the women as the tournament’s top seed.
Crozon scored the basket that ended the final. Michelle Plouffe earned tournament MVP honors, Canada Basketball reported. The Canadians had finished second to the Americans a year earlier, so this was a reversal of the previous women’s final rather than an unfamiliar championship matchup.
For Johnson, the assignment involved learning a different version of international basketball. USA Basketball’s AmeriCup preview identified this as her debut in the halfcourt format after she won gold at the 2025 five-on-five Women’s AmeriCup.
Why four points needs its own scale
A 3x3 scoring line should not be read like a WNBA box score. FIBA’s 3x3 players guide describes a halfcourt game with three players per side, a 12-second shot clock and one- or two-point field goals. Under FIBA’s official rules, regulation lasts 10 minutes unless a team reaches 21 or more points first.
That smaller scoring scale changes the meaning of an individual total. It also gives a missed shot, a defensive rebound or a delayed decision considerable weight. Johnson’s six rebounds against Cuba belong in the account of how the United States reached the final, alongside her points.
The tournament followed a substantial first season in Seattle. The Storm’s October 23 release lists Johnson’s rookie averages at 14.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists, along with WNBA All-Rookie recognition.
Seattle Hoops Insider previously covered Johnson’s selection for the AmeriCup roster. The completed tournament adds the next piece without requiring a prediction about the next WNBA season. An offseason appearance is worth following on its own terms: the opponent, the format and the role all help explain what the player experienced.
Cover image is illustrative basketball photography, not documentation of the players, venue or event discussed.