It was a great ride for Belgium, but unfortunately, their run came to an end after consecutive losses to the United States on Saturday in the semifinals and to Spain earlier today when they lost 67-60.
Emma Meesseman scored 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting in the game. She was spectacular and kept the game from getting out of hand, especially when Spain led by double digits at times.
Belgium had a chance to make the game a one possession game with less than a minute left when they were down 64-60. But a Julie Allemand turnover turned into a Marta Xargay three. Ouch.
Though Belgium is coming out of the FIBA Womens’ Basketball World Cup medal-less, they still have made history. Few outside of the Belgian players themselves would have thought that this team would have made much of an impact in EuroBasket Women 2017 last year. They won the bronze medal instead.
And few thought they would have advanced to the quarterfinals in the World Cup. Belgium advanced to the semifinals instead.
Now that Belgium has made an impact on both the European and world stages, now is the time for them to maintain their position. They still have EuroBasket Women 2019 qualifiers to finish where they are 3-1 in a group that includes the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Germany. The future is very bright for the Belgians indeed with Meesseman leading the way.