SANTO DOMINGO (Dominican Republic) - Belgium are headed to the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022, their second-ever appearance at a World Cup (2018), after they defeated Russia 66-43.

It was a wire-to-wire victory for Belgium who never let Russia really get into the game, as they held them to only 16 points in the second half.

Russia, who were playing in their first game of the tournament, also only connected for 16 made shots, while Belgium knocked down 26 field goals.

Power in the paint

Belgium dominated inside, scoring 38 points in the paint, as 22 of their 26 total field goals came inside the three-point line.

Belgium's big three of Emma Meesseman (20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks), Julie Allemand (13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals) and Kyara Linskens (14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks) combined for 47 of the team's 66 points.

"There was a very strong connection between Julie Allemand, Emma Meesseman and Kyara Linskens and that kind of made things go very smoothly," said Belgium head coach Valery Demory.

Belgium applied constant pressure to Russia, swiping away 10 steals and scoring 16 points from turnovers.

"There was a lot of movement defensively," said Demory. "We played very aggressively and were very efficient and made things very hard for Russia. I think that's the way we were able to control the game."

Has this FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament shown that Belgium can contend for the world medal they have been chasing for so many years?

Time will tell, but Belgium have shown that they have the talent to compete at the highest level on the world stage and they will be on a mission to prove that they are among the best.

Confidence

Belgian Cats captain Meesseman likes what the team has and is confident going forward.

"I look forward to working together with this young team and then see what we can do in the future," said Meesseman. "We had a great evolution, so we're gonna have more time to work together. What I learned from this tournament, seeing this evolution, is that we really can go further. So, we're not gonna need a ton of time to see results."

FIBA