Belgian Cats also beat Italy and go to the quarter finals as group winners

Italy put up a good resistance to the entire party. The Cats held a slight lead throughout, going 26-22 in the first quarter to 43-39 at halftime.

After the break, Italy continued to follow the Belgians and at the start of the fourth quarter they even took a 56-60 lead. In the end, the Cats won by eight points. Julie Vanloo from Deerlijk (23 pts) and Emma Meesseman from Ypres (20 pts, 9 rbds, 5 assists) were the stars in Belgium.

In recent days, the Cats beat host country Israel (108-59) and the Czech Republic (84-41) with large numbers. The Belgian women are among the favorites at this European championship. In recent years they have won two bronze medals at European Championships (2017 and 2021). At the World Cup in Sydney, they finished fifth last year, after a previous fourth place in Tenerife in 2018. The Games in 2021 were a disappointment with a seventh place and narrow loss to hosts Japan in the quarter-finals