Copper, Meesseman, Allemand and Yueru will represent three different countries in the World Cup Games
CHICAGO (September 20, 2022) — The 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup kicks off on September 21 (CST) in Sydney, Australia. Four Chicago Sky players are represented in the World Cup: Kahleah Copper representing the United States, Emma Meesseman and Julie Allemand representing Belgium and Li Yueru representing China. All three countries are in Group A, along with Puerto Rico, South Korea and Bosnia/Herzegovina. Group B includes France, Serbia, Japan, Mali, Canada and Australia.
The 2022 World Cup features the top-12 world’s best women’s basketball teams, with 38 games played across 10 games. There are two groups — Group A and Group B, consisting of six teams each. At the end of the Group Phase, the top-4 teams in each Group will advance to the Quarter-Finals. The top-2 in each Group will be drawn against the two teams ranked third and fourth in the opposing group. Winners will then advance to the Semi-Finals, and then the Finals. There will be a Third Place Game played.
In addition to her extensive international experience, this will be Copper’s first World Cup appearance and first FIBA national team appearance. Copper was awarded EuroLeague MVP and named to All-EuroLeague Women First Team for the 2021-22 season with CB Perfumerias Avenida in Spain after averaging 22.5 ppg and 6.1 rpg. After the 2019-20 season with InvestInTheWest Enea Gorzow Wielkopolski in Poland, she also earned FIBA’s Top Performer honors and was voted MVP after she dropped 33 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and grabbed four steals to kick start her team’s EuroCup campaign.
This is both Meesseman and Allemand’s second FIBA World Cup appearance with Belgium. In 2018, Meesseman averaged 18.5 ppg, 10.7 rpg and 2.5 apg over six games, while Allemand averaged 7.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg and 8.2 apg over six games. For the Chinese national team, this is Yueru’s second FIBA World Cup appearance as well, averaging 7.1 ppg and 5.6 rpg over seven games in 2018.
In its first game of Group A Play, USA will open against Belgium on Wednesday, September 21 at 8:30 p.m. CST, where USA has won the past three World Cups, dating back to 2010. China will play its opener against South Korea on Thursday, September 22 at 2:30 a.m. CST
Belgium will play against South Korea for its second game on Thursday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m. CST, while China faces off against Bosnia & Herzegovina also on Thursday, September 22 at 11:30 p.m. CST.
Select games will be available for live viewing on various ESPN channels and on Courtside 1891. Please view all 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup information here.
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