olympic qualifying tournament
United States Belgium
end
15
q1
19
19
q2
24
23
q3
23
24
q4
13
81
score
79
What a shame about that very last second. The Belgian Cats opened the Olympic qualifying tournament with a strong performance against America. The Belgian basketball women were in the lead for almost the entire match, but in a crazy ending the penny fell to the US. In the very last second it became 79-81 for Team USA. Tomorrow there will be a chance for revenge against Senegal.
Team USA in global basketball is always David versus Goliath, even for the European champion. The Belgian Cats also ultimately missed playmaker Julie Allemand, who was spared with a knee injury.
But supported by a seething Sportpaleis in Antwerp – 13,700 spectators, a record for a women’s match in Belgium – the Cats did not let that bother them. With Lisowa and Mununga in the starting line-up, the Belgians started the match very strongly.
Emma Meesseman may have been in the clutches of the American defense, but that gave room for others to shine. Vanloo did that with her usual three-pointers, Mununga and Delaere with tough defense and star Lisowa with great things on both sides of the field.
There was a lot of rotation in Belgium, but that did not bother the team. Because the substitutes also made their presence felt: Résimont, Joris and Ramette showed themselves from behind the three-point line.
What about Team USA? The American stars certainly did not twinkle before halftime, Napheesa Collier was the only bright spot. After a fantastic first half, the Cats went into the dressing room with a bonus of 9 points, an enthusiastic Sportpaleis dreamed of a stunt.
The venom is in the tail
Even after the break, both teams initially kept pace, although the Belgian error burden gradually started to weigh on them. The US was allowed to go to the free throw line more and more often and after Mununga dropped out with her 5th foul, a large chunk of grinta also disappeared from the Belgians.
They had to passively watch as Team USA slowly but surely closed the gap in the 4th quarter, although it could have gone either way in a nerve-wracking ending.
At 79-79 and 4.5 seconds to play, the Americans had possession of the ball and that turned out to be enough to win, although the refs also played a crucial role in this.
They did not see that Kelsey Plum had her foot on the line, after which Stewart tapped in the victory score in the very last second of the match.
Quite an anticlimax, although the Belgian Cats must try to remember the positive. Without two basic pawns, they put their foot next to big America on Thursday evening and it was also proven that Belgium is more than just its starting five.
The defeat against the USA does not have to be a disaster, because everything is still open for the Olympic ticket. When the Cats beat Senegal on Friday evening, qualifying is complete. And that is, after all, the main goal of this tournament.
Related:
Belgium: Vanloo 19, Lisowa 17, Delaere 13, Mununga 8, Meesseman 6, Becky Massey 4, Ramette 4, Joris 3, Résimont 3, Geldof 2, Claessens 0. Allemand did not play.
Olympic qualifying tournament in Antwerp
standings W V +/- pts 1. Nigeria 1 0 +7 2 2. United States 1 1 +2 2 3. Belgium 0 1 -2 1 4. Senegal 0 1 -7 1
In each of the 4 qualifying tournaments, 3 countries qualify for the Olympic Games. As world champions, the US is already assured of a ticket in the Belgium group. The best two countries besides America in this group can go to Paris 2024.
2024-02-08 21:34:53
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