BEL/JPN - Belgium untroubled by Japan

TOULOUSE (FIBA U17 World Championship for Women) – Belgium reached the last four of the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women with a 93-70 win over Japan in the third quarter-final at the Palais des Sports in Toulouse.
 
The Belgians scored the game’s first 11 points in just three minutes to clearly state their intentions.

Yuki Miyazawa eventually got Japan on the scoreboard, but Daniel Goethals’s girls were in firm control as they held a 27-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

The duo of Julie Vanloo and Emma Meesseman proved too much for Shinichiro Hayashi’s charges and they went into halftime with a 52-34 cushion.

Naho Minyoshi took care of the scoring in the first half and Yuki Miyazawa took over from her in the third period to get Japan within 70-53.

However, Belgium just had too much firepower with Meesseman and Vanloo – who combined for 46 points – and got a huge lift from Harriet Bende Belobi who added 15.

Quotes

Daniel Goethals (Belgium head coach): I was nervous. We knew that Japan played quick and were able to score rapidly. We had a great performance except for the second quarter in which we gave up 23 points. We kept them from following their tactical scheme. We deserved to win. It’s never easy to be the favourites. We started well and put the game out of reach.

Shinichiro Hayashi (Japan head coach): We didn’t play well. We didn’t shoot well. The Belgian team was better than us overall.

FIBA/LOC