Belgium convincingly beat Puerto Rico
In the World Cup qualifier in Washington, Belgium convincingly defeated Puerto Rico, which was to be expected. Puerto Rico is the weakest team in this group and after this defeat, they have little chance of going to the World Cup. Given that the next two games are played against the USA and Russia, the chances are really small. Belgium controlled the result from the beginning of the match and convincingly defeated the weak rival.
The girls from Belgium only increased the difference and in the end, the result was 98-65. Kyara Linskens scored as many as 26 pts and also had 10 rebs. She was followed by Emma Meesseman with 19 pts, 7 rebs, and 7 ast. In the defeated team, only 6 girls scored points. Arella Guirantes scored 25 pts and played almost the entire game. She was joined by Jazmon Gwathmey, who scored 18 pts.
Japan conquered Canada after a great upheaval
We watched a much more interesting match in Osaka. Canada had a 20-point lead over Japan at one point. After the half that Canada won 40-23, probably everyone thought it was over but not the Japanese. As the game progressed, the advantage slowly melted away. Canada entered the last quarter with only an eight-point advantage. By the end, the Japanese completely overtook the advantage of the Canadians. In overtime, Canada scored only six points and suffered its first defeat in this tournament 86-79.
In the winning team, Stephanie Mawuli scored 18 pts. Himawari Akaho added 15 pts. Canadian Nirra Fields scored 19 pts but had a very low shot percentage (38.1%). Canada has already secured a place in the World Cup because Belarus will not compete in Osaka. The Canadians will play their next match on Saturday against Bosnia and Herzegovina.