Hosts Germany produced the greatest night in the history of German women's basketball on Wednesday, stunning reigning EuroBasket champions Belgium 93-74 in the FIBA Women's World Cup quarterfinals at Berlin Arena.
Leonie Fiebich led the charge with a superb double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Nyara Sabally contributed 16 points and Alexandra Wilke added 10. The result marked a stunning turnaround for a German side that had been hammered by 30 points against Spain on the opening day of the tournament, but had not lost since and arrived at the knockout stage riding a wave of momentum.
Belgium, the defending European champions, could not replicate the dominance they showed at last year's EuroBasket when they eliminated Germany by 24 points in the same round. Emma Meesseman kept the Blue Cats in contention with a game-high 29 points, but it was not enough to halt the hosts' charge.
"Those last two minutes of the game, I was sitting there and I had goosebumps," said Wilke. "We've come such a long way, today, especially in front of our home crowd."
Team captain Marie Guelich was overcome with emotion after the final buzzer. "I love this. This is everything I dreamed of with the national team," she said. "This is my home team. My heart is in this team. I'm beyond proud I can be part of this team this year, that I can just be here and experience this."
Germany will face France in Saturday's semifinal after the French ended the tournament for China's 2.23-metre sensation Zhang Ziyu, limiting the teenager to seven points and eight rebounds in a 90-61 victory. Earlier, the United States demolished Hungary 108-56 and Spain beat Australia 89-66.
Former NBA star Dirk Nowitzki was among the spectators at Berlin Arena, witnessing what was universally hailed as a watershed moment for German women's basketball.
The hosts now carry an underdog story into the final four, with captain Guelich summing up the spirit of a squad that refuses to accept any limit: "This is the night for German women's basketball."
Sources
- https://www.fiba.basketball/en/news/the-greatest-night-in-german-womens-basketball-history
- https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/german-stun-belgium-while-2-174848287.html
