I weighed and found the desire.
In their last training match on Belgian soil, the Belgian Cats put Canada through the meat grinder on Sunday evening in Charleroi. The Belgian women dealt with their opponent in the 30s: 81-51.
The Cats are not shying away from tough opposition in their Olympic preparations. Having previously trained against China (FIBA-2), Serbia (FIBA-10) and Spain (FIBA-4), they are now eyeing a fifth-place finish in the world in Canada’s eyes.
Just like Belgium, Canada was not yet complete, with only a handful of players still active in the WNBA. The Cats were still missing Julie Allemand (rehab) and Julie Vanloo (WNBA). Kiara Lenskens remained on the sidelines as a precaution, with a toe injury.
It didn’t bother the Belgian ladies at all against a very modest Canada team, who had great difficulty finding open shots against the Cats’ strong defense throughout the match.
The European champions continued to dominate the match and extended Belgium’s modest lead at halftime (36-28) to a crushing victory in the second half. Emma Meesseman was Belgium’s top scorer with 20 points.
Next week, the Cats will play two more exhibition matches in Reims (France), against China and against Japan. The latter country will also be one of the group stage competitors at the Games.
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