The Dutch 3×3 women’s basketball team has made history on Sunday with their first world title ever. In the final, the Netherlands convincingly defeated host country Mongolia: 15-9.
The 3×3 women’s basketball team had already surpassed their best World Cup performance ever by reaching the final, but the men also did so in 2017 and 2018. They only lost both finals. Now the women have given the Netherlands their first world title in the sport. They had already been European champions once.
In the final, the 3×3 women’s basketball team had no trouble with Mongolia. The team, consisting of Janis Boonstra, Noor Driessen, Evelien Lutje Schipholt and Ilse Kuijt, quickly took a 6-1 lead and was never in trouble against the host country in Ulaanbaatar.
The Dutch 3×3 women’s basketball team was one of the favorites for the world title. The Netherlands started the tournament as leader of the world ranking and already won three tournaments in the Women’s Series. Yet, the Netherlands experienced a difficult group stage: the first two matches were lost.
After that, the Netherlands, led by star player Driessen, got a taste for it. Earlier in the day, the Netherlands won 21-15 against Canada in the semi-finals, partly because Driessen scored no less than nine points. She was also the top scorer on the Dutch side in the final with six points.