French women snatch victory in overtime against Belgium and join the invincible Team USA in the final

The Blues suffered, but reached their second Olympic final after that of 2012. It will be Sunday afternoon, against the big American favorites, seven-time reigning Olympic champions.

If the men go, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t go either. The day after Victor Wembanyama’s gang, the French women’s team also qualified for the Olympic final by beating Belgium in the semi-finals on Friday 9 August, at the end of extra time (81-75).

This will be their second participation after that of the “Braqueuses” in 2012, and it will be against the United States again, Sunday (3:30 p.m.). As for the men, the challenge will be immense against the favorite team, but these two French teams sweep all the predictions aside.

To achieve this, the Blues had to extract themselves from the trench built by the Belgians. This semi-final was bumpy and rough, as the Blues were not used to in this campaign. Shaken in the paint for a large part of the match, the best defense of the tournament suffered the treatment it usually inflicts.

The Blues came up against a Belgian wall, embodied by pivot Kyara Linskens (15 points). The brilliant play of the group stages suddenly disappeared in the face of the toughness of the Belgian Cats. The French had a hell of a time scoring, especially in the paint (26% shooting at half-time, 30% in total).

Each team had its highlights, its “runs”, and the French came back to life at the end of the third quarter to come back to 48-51 after being behind by 10 points. In a tense finale, where the teams exchanged faults, France believed they had the victory by leading by six points to 56 seconds of the term.

But two three-pointers cooled down a burning Bercy and took the two teams into overtime. In a stifling atmosphere, Gabby Williams, the best French player of these Olympics, took up her savior’s mantle again. She scored six points in a row, nine in total in overtime, to finally put the Belgians at a definitive distance.

Beaten in the semi-final of the last Eurobasket by Belgium, France had an affront to avenge, and a final to go and win at home. It is now done. With this victory, France reaches the final of the Olympic Games for the second time in its history after 2012.

She will face the same opponent, the United States, who were merciless to Australia in the other semi-final. It will be Sunday (3:30 p.m.) for a first Olympic title. Belgium will try to win a first Olympic medal against Australia in the small final.