Team USA beat Belgium 93-77 on Saturday afternoon to advance to the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup finals. With the win, the United States advances to the championship for the fourth consecutive time and will play Spain or Australia as of the time of this post’s initial publishing.
Elena Delle Donne scored nine points off the bench for Team USA, while Emma Meesseman scored 23 points for Belgium on 9-of-15 shooting in what was easily the game of her life.
Belgium started this game on a strong note, leading 26-21 after the first quarter. However, the United States made their inevitable comeback, and a dominant 33-18 third quarter performance was just too much for the Belgians to overcome. Overall, Meesseman played about as well as anyone would have hoped in a game like this.
However, the United States has much more depth than the Belgians, and that showed during the third quarter when the Americans made five three pointers to extend a one point lead at halftime to a 16 point lead by the time the fourth quarter started.
The Americans will face the winner of the Spain vs. Australia semifinals game in the championship while Belgium faces the loser for a chance to clinch a bronze medal.