Perhaps after Nigeria’s historic upset of Australia to start the day, I should’ve seen more historic twists and turns coming? Because I definitely didn’t think Germany would take it to Belgium like this. But, in Germany’s first-ever Olympic appearance — in what felt like a home game for the Belgian Cats given the country’s proximity to these early games in group play — the Germans upset Belgium (and its sixth player advantage), 83-69.
Germany, no surprise, was led by its WNBA trio — Satou Sabally, Nyara Sabally and Leonie Fiebich (pictured). They combined for 34 first-half points as Germany jumped out early, never trailing in the game, and finished with 49. Germany’s loss in the win was that Nyara Sabally exited in the second half after colliding with Fiebich. She went to the locker room looking very shaken up and didn’t return.
Belgium’s biggest problem came from cold shooting that the team couldn’t shake. The Cats didn’t hit their first 3-pointer until the second half and ended the day 5-of-18 from beyond the arc. By contrast, Germany couldn’t miss. They shot 53 percent from the floor, including 50 from beyond the arc, with five players finishing in double digits.
Fiebich said that growing up in Germany, she didn’t have any home-grown female…
