At 3:00 PM, the hour hand points at the 3 on the clock while the minute hand points at the 12. From 3:00 PM to 3:45 PM, the hour hand moves slightly past the 3, while the minute hand moves 3/4 of the way around the clock. The angle between the hour and minute hand can be calculated by finding the difference between the angles they make with the 12 on the clock. Since the minute hand moves 3/4 of the way around the clock, it covers an angle of 270 degrees. The hour hand moves slightly past the 3, which is approximately 1/4 of the way between the 3 and 4 on the clock. This corresponds to an angle of 30 degrees. Therefore, the angle between the hour and minute hand is 270 degrees - 30 degrees = 240 degrees. However, since the question asks for the angle between the hands, we subtract this angle from 360 degrees to find that the angle is 360 degrees - 240 degrees = 120 degrees. Therefore, the correct answer is 120 degrees.