No history! Belgian Cats beat USA at buzzer after improbable thriller | The Belgian Cats lost after a thriller against America

see Cats lost in Subs to make America a superpower

World champion. Olympic champion. Of course about the game. That says a lot about Team USA's status in basketball. But there wasn't much to notice at the sold-out Sportpaleis. It was the Belgians who imposed their will on America for so long. Two more key fundamentals were also not on the field for a minute: Center Kiara Linskens was sidelined with an ankle injury. But Julie Allemond was on the bench as she trained on Wednesday with a tightly bandaged left knee. Coach Rachid Méziane chose to save his point guard for Friday's decisive game against Senegal.

13,700 supporters – a record attendance for a women's match in Belgium – were delighted to hear it. No other Belgian cat thrived better than Julie Vanloo, who inspired the other cats with her three-pointers. Youngsters among the Cats – Resimont, Ramet, Joris and Lisova – also hit the target, while the American stars did not make any of their eight three-point attempts. What to say about Beth Mununga: already in the European championships cats and under the boards without any complications, scoring and rebounding. It doesn't seem to bother her that a champion like Bryn Stewart is staring at her whites.

Cats also stars Emma Meismann. As a captain he was a rock on the surf, but it took him 58 seconds into half-time to score – unusual. But Meismann defended the Cats aggressively – as European champions, a stark contrast to the Cats who lost face in the European Championship preliminary round against Poland in November. They played against America with a knife between their teeth, but it resulted in many mistakes, so that the Americans more or less stayed behind the Belgians (38-43).

And whoever thought Team USA would come out of the locker room with more grit — forget it. The Cats didn't back down and again Mununga played a key role, only to be rested with a minor fourth fault. No worries: Lisova took over without a problem and hit two three-pointers in quick succession. Geldof was able to contribute in the third quarter: 57-65.

Was there a stunt at work? It seemed so, but Ionescu suddenly managed two three-pointers: 68-68. Everything is possible again. Not on my watch, Delaire thought, as he answered her with two drives. Vanloo launched another long-range rocket and scored with a simple lay-up: 75-77. And it – how can it be otherwise with cats – turns into a thriller again. Lisova managed to make the winning basket, but missed. Stewart, on the other hand, capitalized on a chance to win with 0.1 seconds left on the clock.

Fought but lost – no shame. The road to Paris is still open.