Emma Meesseman voted best player at historic European Championship: ‘We will never forget this’

The Belgian Cats put the cherry on top of an unparalleled tournament in the final at the European Women’s Basketball Championship against four-time European champion Spain on Sunday evening with a hard-fought 64-58 victory (halftime: 25-32).

Historic

They lagged behind throughout the game, but thanks to an ultimate remonte they reversed the lopsided situation in extremis, resulting in a historic first European Championship win.

The Cats initially gave a nervous impression and went looking for star player Emma Meesseman a little too often in the first quarter. They had to leave a gap of four points after the first ten minutes of play (13-17). Also in the second quarter, the Spanish women, who have much more experience in finals, slightly had the upper hand (12-15), so that Belgium faced a deficit of seven units at halftime (25-32).

West Flemish three-pointer

In the third quarter, Rachid Meziane’s troops managed to reduce the deficit to five points (18-16). In the fourth and last quarter, the Belgians continued to press on, thanks to a great three-pointer from Kyara Linskens, who played excellently.

Four minutes from the end, Meesseman managed a crucial three-pointer, giving her country the lead by one point for the first time in the match. Meesseman and Julie Vanloo showed their coolness in the last minutes with six perfect free throws and so the European title was a fact with 21-10 in the final quarter.