The FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament continues today.
The FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament will be held in four countries, including Belgium, which we are most interested in. The United States and the home team are the top two teams in this pool. Here are the matches that will be played at Sports Palace Antwerp starting this evening (early afternoon ET).
All games can be watched courtside at 1891
USA vs Nigeria
time: 12:15 PM ET (or 6:15 PM CET)
What’s going wrong: The Americans have already qualified for the Olympics, so they don’t need to play beyond rehearsing with some opponents. Yesterday, Team USA narrowly defeated Belgium thanks to hot performances from Washington Mystics signee guard Julie Vanloo and guard Maxuel Lisowe-Mbaka. New York Liberty forward Brianna Stewart saved the day with this shot.
Mystics guard Ariel Atkins didn’t play much, but will hopefully be able to play more today against DeGres.
Nigeria defeated Senegal 72-65 yesterday in a match that determined Olympic qualification. Given that the Nigerians are the champions of women’s Afrobasketball, Belgium’s response today should be enough to qualify.
Belgium vs. Senegal
time: 2:45 PM ET (or 8:45 PM CET)
What’s going wrong: After a heartbreaking loss to the Americans last night in front of the largest crowd in the history of a Belgian women’s sporting event, the Cats now have a game that really matters. First, Senegal must win tonight to keep their Olympic hopes alive.
Considering how loud the Belgian crowd was last night, I think the Cats should win this game easily. Additionally, Cats superstar and former WNBA player Emma Measman should be able to score big points again after serving as a post playmaker in yesterday’s game.
According to Sporza newspaper (link in Dutch), Van Loo is trying to make Mystics fans feel optimistic about the season, even though Julie Allemand is expected to return after resting last night with a lingering knee injury. I hope he can put up even bigger numbers.
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