Belgium women's national basketball team

Belgium
FIBA ranking	6 (6 December 2021)
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	KBBB
Coach
Nickname(s)	Belgian Cats
Olympic Games
Appearances	1
Medals	None
World Cup
Appearances	1
Medals	None
EuroBasket
Appearances	13
Medals	(2017, 2021)
Home	Away

The Belgium women's national basketball team represents Belgium in international women's basketball competitions for women. Commonly referred to (in all languages) as the Belgian Cats, their first appearance in a major international tournament was in 1950, at the European Championship in Budapest. The team has participated in thirteen European Championship tournaments (including best finishes of 3rd place in 2017 and 2021) but had not been present at World Championships or the Olympic Games until they qualified for the 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup (where they finished in 4th place),^[2] and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The Belgian Cats, together with the men's national basketball team, are administered by the Belgian Basketball Federation.^[3]

Competitive record[]

Summer Olympics[]

Year	Place	Pld	W	L	PF	PA
1976	Did not qualify
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020	7th	4	2	2	319	282
Total	1/12	4	2	2	319	282

World Cup[]

Year	Place	Pld	W	L	PF	PA
1953	Did not qualify
1957
1959
1964
1967
1971
1975
1979
1983
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018	Fourth place	6	3	3	456	401
2022	Qualified
Total	2/19	1	3	3	456	401

EuroBasket[]

Year	Place	Pld	W	L	PF	PA
1938	Did not qualify
1950	8	8	4	4	328	351
1952	Did not qualify
1954
1956
1958
1960	10	7	0	7	284	402
1962	10	5	0	5	172	287
1964	Did not qualify
1966	Did not qualify
1968	7	9	2	7	374	615
1970	12	7	0	7	390	599
1972	Did not qualify
1974	Did not qualify
1976	12	8	1	7	471	740
1978	Did not qualify
1980	13	8	1	7	453	668
1981	Did not qualify
1983	Did not qualify
1985	12	7	0	7	306	350
1987	Did not qualify
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003	6	8	3	5	578	649
2005	Did not qualify
2007	7	8	4	4	525	520
2009	Did not qualify
2011
2013
2015
2017		6	5	1	413	376
2019	5	6	3	3	418	400
2021		6	4	2	445	414
Total	13/38	93	27	66	5157	6371

2020 Olympic roster[]

The roster was announced on 4 July 2021.^[4]

Belgium women's national basketball team – 2020 Summer Olympics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Age – Date of birth	Height	Club
SG	5	Kim Mestdagh	31 – (1990-03-12)12 March 1990	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	PF Schio
SF	6	Antonia Delaere	26 – (1994-08-01)1 August 1994	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	Basket Zaragoza
PG	9	Marjorie Carpréaux	33 – (1987-09-17)17 September 1987	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)	Castors Braine
PF	11	Emma Meesseman	28 – (1993-05-13)13 May 1993	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	UMMC Ekaterinburg
C	12	Ann Wauters	40 – (1980-10-12)12 October 1980	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	Free agent
C	13	Kyara Linskens	24 – (1996-11-13)13 November 1996	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	Nadezhda Orenburg
F	22	Hanne Mestdagh	28 – (1993-04-19)19 April 1993	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Namur-Capitale
F	32	Heleen Nauwelaers	25 – (1996-03-14)14 March 1996	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
C	34	Billie Massey	21 – (2000-03-21)21 March 2000	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	Kangoeroes Basket Mechelen
PG	35	Julie Vanloo	28 – (1993-02-10)10 February 1993	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)	BC Enisey
PF	42	Jana Raman	30 – (1991-02-15)15 February 1991	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	CB Estudiantes
PG	55	Julie Allemand	25 – (1996-07-07)7 July 1996	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)	ASVEL Féminin

Head coach

Philip Mestdagh^[5]

Assistant coach(es)

Sven Van Camp
Pierre Cornia

Legend

Club – describes last
club before the tournament
Age – describes age
on 26 July 2021

References[]

^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
^ "Spain v Belgium boxscore - FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018 - 30 September".
^ Profile | Belgium, Fiba.com. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
^ "Belgium make roster tweaks for Olympic debut". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
^ "Team Roster Belgium" (PDF). olympics.com. Retrieved 26 July 2021.

External links[]

Official website
FIBA profile
Archived records of Belgium team participations

[FIBA_Women's_World_Rankings-1] "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.

[2] "Spain v Belgium boxscore - FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018 - 30 September".

[3] Profile | Belgium, Fiba.com. Retrieved 15 July 2016.

[4] "Belgium make roster tweaks for Olympic debut". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 4 July 2021.

[5] "Team Roster Belgium" (PDF). olympics.com. Retrieved 26 July 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t Belgian Sportsperson of the Year
Men	1967 Ferdinand Bracke 1968 Serge Reding 1969–1974 Eddy Merckx 1975 Bruno Brokken 1976 Ivo Van Damme 1977 Michel Pollentier 1978 Raymond Ceulemans 1979–1980 Robert Van de Walle 1981 Freddy Maertens 1982 Jacky Ickx 1983 Eddy Annys 1984 Claude Criquielion 1985 Gaston Rahier & Vincent Rousseau 1986 William Van Dijck 1987 Georges Jobé 1988 Eric Geboers 1989 Thierry Boutsen 1990 Rudy Dhaenens 1991 Jean-Michel Saive 1992 Georges Jobé 1993 Vincent Rousseau 1994 Jean-Michel Saive 1995–1996 Fred Deburghgraeve 1997 Luc Van Lierde 1998 Fred Deburghgraeve 1999 Luc Van Lierde 2000 Joël Smets 2001–2004 Stefan Everts 2005 Tom Boonen 2006 Stefan Everts 2007 Tom Boonen 2008 Sven Nys 2009–2011 Philippe Gilbert 2012 Tom Boonen 2013 Frederik Van Lierde 2014 Thibaut Courtois 2015 Kevin De Bruyne 2016 Greg Van Avermaet 2017 David Goffin 2018 Eden Hazard 2019 Remco Evenepoel 2020-2021 Wout van Aert
Women	1975 Carine Verbauwen 1976–1977 Anne-Marie Pira 1978–1979 Carine Verbauwen 1980 Ingrid Berghmans 1981 Annie Lambrechts 1982–1986 Ingrid Berghmans 1987 Ingrid Lempereur 1988–1989 Ingrid Berghmans 1990–1991 Sabine Appelmans 1992 Annelies Bredael 1993 Gella Vandecaveye 1994–1995 Brigitte Becue 1996 Ulla Werbrouck 1997 Gella Vandecaveye 1998 Dominique Monami 1999–2002 Kim Clijsters 2003–2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne 2005 Kim Clijsters 2006–2007 Justine Henin-Hardenne 2008 Tia Hellebaut 2009–2011 Kim Clijsters 2012 Evi Van Acker 2013 Kirsten Flipkens 2014 Nafissatou Thiam 2015 Delfine Persoon 2016–2017 Nafissatou Thiam 2018–2019 Nina Derwael 2020 Emma Meesseman 2021 Nina Derwael
Team	1997 Noliko Maaseik 1998 Motocross team 1999 Davis Cup team 2000 Anderlecht 2001 Fed Cup team 2002 La Villette 2003 Motocross team 2004 Women's 4×100 metres relay 2005 Men's under-21 football team 2006 Fed Cup team 2007–2008 Women's 4×100 metres relay 2009–2011 Men's 4×400 metres relay 2012 Men's field hockey team 2013–2014 Men's football team 2015 Davis Cup team 2016 Men's field hockey team 2017 Davis Cup team 2018–2019 Men's field hockey team 2020 Women's national basketball team 2021 Men's field hockey team
Talent	1998 Kim Clijsters 1999 Bart Wellens 2000 Bart Aernouts 2001 Jurgen Van den Broeck 2002 Thomas Buffel 2003 Kirsten Flipkens 2004 Aagje Vanwalleghem 2005 Niels Albert 2006 Yoris Grandjean 2007 Dominique Cornu 2008 Elise Matthysen 2009 Romelu Lukaku 2010 Luca Brecel 2011 Thomas van der Plaetsen 2012 Kimmer Coppejans 2013 Nafissatou Thiam 2014 Divock Origi 2015 Tiesj Benoot 2016 Louise Carton 2017 Lotte Kopecky 2018 Remco Evenepoel 2019 Yari Verschaeren 2020 Charles De Ketelaere 2021 Thibau Nys
Paralympic	2010 Sven Decaesstecker 2011 2012 Marieke Vervoort 2013 Joachim Gérard 2014 Michèle George 2015 Marieke Vervoort 2016 Laurens Devos 2017–2018 Peter Genyn 2019–2021 Joachim Gérard
Coach	2011–2012 Jacques Borlée 2013–2014 Marc Wilmots 2015 Hein Vanhaezebrouck 2016–2017 Roger Lespagnard 2018 Roberto Martínez 2019 Shane Mcleod 2020 Philip Mestdagh 2021 Shane Mcleod