Sky Overseas Updates 2022-23: FIBA Women’s World Cup – Semi-Finals
September 30, 2022 – Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) – Chicago Sky News Release
CHICAGO – The 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup continued elimination games in the Semi-Finals, with two Chicago Sky players taking action with their respective countries: Kahleah Copper (USA) and Li Yueru (China).
Emma Meesseman, Julie Allemand and Team Belgium fell short of their ultimate goal this year, finishing its 2022 World Cup run in the Quarter-Finals against the host country Australia and finished third in group play. They recorded wins against Korea, Puerto Rico and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the Quarter-Finals, Allemand led the team in scoring with 15 points to go along with seven assists, two rebounds and one steal.
In Belgium’s Group Phase game against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Meesseman left the game with 8:24 left in the third quarter with a left calf injury. She has withdrawn from the competition and her timeline to return has not been determined. More information can be found on Belgium basketball’s official website here. The Chicago Sky has no further updates.
In the United States’ Quarter-Final game against Serbia, Copper was helped off the floor with 2:59 to go in the first half with an apparent hip injury. She was then taken into the locker room and for evaluation and did not return to play, per USA Basketball. Heading into the Semi-Final game, Copper was ruled Questionable and was reevaluated by the team’s medical staff later that day. She was officially ruled OUT ahead of the Semi-Final game. She will be evaluated again before the gold medal game, per USA Basketball. The Chicago Sky has no further updates.
Team USA took care of business in Copper’s absence with a 83-43 win over Canada and are now headed to play for its fourth consecutive FIBA Women’s World Cup gold medal against Li Yueru and Team China. The U.S. still stands as the only undefeated team in the games.
Li and China are now on a four-game winning streak, defeating host country Australia in a nail-biting 61-59 victory in the Semi-Finals to secure their spot in the Final. China recorded the victory in front of 11,916 buzzing fans in Sydney. Li finished with four points and five rebounds in 14 minutes. The last time China reached the Final was back in 1994, but lost to Brazil.
USA/China played each other earlier this week in group play, with USA victorious in a 77-63 win. This was the smallest margin of victory for the U.S. in the 2022 games. The United States is 7-0 all-time against China in the Women’s World Cup. This will be the first time the U.S. and China have met in the gold medal game.
The Final will be played on Saturday, Oct. 1st at 1:00 a.m. CST on ESPN2/ESPN+. The Third-Place game, featuring Australia vs. Canada will be played on Sept. 30th at 10:00 p.m. CST on ESPN+.
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