Four stars pioneering and leading women's 3x3

MIES (Switzerland) - Women's 3x3 continues to go up a level with stars emerging from all over the globe. 

Let's look at four of the best - all from different continents - who have led from the front and helped take women's 3x3 to new heights. 

Michelle Plouffe (Canada)

We just have to start with the reigning Women's Series Final MVP, who was unstoppable after a leading average of 7.1 ppg for those who played more than 20 games.

Plouffe along with her twin Katherine, has been the fuel behind Canada being a trendsetter in the women's game. She has redefined how to play inside the paint in an area of the half-court she completely owns. 

The 6ft. 3 in (1.9m) Plouffe performs on all stages having also won MVP at the FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup 2022, while she was also on the Team of the Tournament at the World Cup 2022 to inspire Canada's silver medal performance. 

Soraya Mohamed (Egypt)

If you want to see how far the skills have developed in women's 3x3 then look no further than the 28-year-old Soraya, who does things you've never seen before on the half-court. 

The 28-year-old Soraya is aptly known by her growing number of fans as the 'African Queen', but she's a tormentor to opponents, whose ankles are continually in danger of being broken by her killer crossover. 

Soraya has long been the leading player in Africa and already has a swag of medals at the Africa Cup. But she's starting to be unleashed beyond the continent and she has showed off her mesmerizing moves at the World Cup and the Women's Series. 

She's no doubt inspiring a whole new generation of young females to do crazy tricks with the Wilson. 

Laetitia Guapo (France)

This fabulous Frenchwoman is most certainly in the GOAT conversation for 3x3 women. 

There might not be a better all-round player than Guapo, who is equally as good on offense as defense. Her incredible athleticism was once tested by Kingston University, which showed her anaerobic power was just less than that of female 100m Olympic sprinters.

She's the perfect 3x3 player with her athleticism, high IQ and all-round skill-set making Guapo completely dominant on the half-court. 

She's been on a tear in recent years and her 2022 might be the GOAT season after winning World Cup and Europe Cup titles. 

With the Olympics on home soil, you feel that 2024 is going to be Laetitia Guapo's greatest ever year. 

Aoi Katsura (Japan) 

The Japanese star isn't just one of the best players in Asia, she's also a pioneer having been part of German commercial team Dusseldorf ZOOS on the Women's Series since 2022. 

Katsura's relished playing on the pro circuit with the 6ft (1.82m) athletic marvel capable of scoring from anywhere on the half-court and she was one of the leading bucket getters on last season's Women's Series. 

FIBA