At the World Cup qualifier there are still two tickets to be earned for 3 countries: Belgium, United States“>Puerto Rico and Russia. As an Olympic champion, the United States is already certain of participating in the World Cup.
Winning against Puerto Rico was therefore a must for the Cats, otherwise there would be a lot of pressure on the games against the US and Russia. Belgium did have good memories of the Puerto Rican ladies, because in previous confrontations the Cats always waltzed over the opponent.
National coach Demory dropped the young Lisowa in the starting line-up and also counted on the established names Allemand, Delaere, Linskens and Meesseman. Demory tries to put different accents than his predecessor, but the key figures have remained the same, with Allemand as conductor and Meesseman as ever reliable finisher.
Yet in the 1st half it was mainly Linskens who did what she felt like. Puerto Rico did not find an answer to the strong Belgian center player, who already had 20 points at halftime (37-55).
Hind Ben Abdelkader, back from being away from the Belgian Cats for far too long, also left her mark. The shooting guard, active in the Russian league, showed himself meticulously from behind the three-point line and is clearly an extra scoring option for this team.
She immediately set the tone with two bombs at the start of the 2nd half, a brief flare-up from Puerto Rico was quickly nullified by the Belgians. In the last quarter, the Puerto Ricans physically fell through the ice and the Cats put a difference of more than 30 points on the board: 65-98.
Tomorrow Belgium has to get back to work. Then the Cats meet the reigning world and Olympic champion with the US. The match can be followed live on Sporza in the night from Friday to Saturday, from 0.30 am.
Belgium: Left 26, Meesseman 22, Allemand 13, Ben Abdelkader 13, Lisowa Mbaka 10, Ramette 4, Delaere 3, Resimont, Joris 2, Massey 2
