Ann Wauters overcame a tough German defense to score 16 points in leading Belgium to a 63-51 victory over Germany and giving the Belgians a perfect 2-0 record and a spot in the qualifying round of the 2007 EuroBasket Women.

Wauters made just 5-of-19 shots but collected six rebounds, four assists and two steals while Kathy Wambe added 15 points.

		Ann Wauters led Belgium with 16 points.

"Before we started this tournament, our goal was two wins in the first three games. We came in well-prepared, focused and concentrated. Germany play very physical so it's always hard against that type of team. But we did a really good job on defense and that was key," said Wauters.

Belgium made just 34% of their shots from the field while Germany were held to just 39%.

"Everybody could see that there was a lot of defense out there. And that was the key of the game. Yesterday we had enough space to take our shots and today we didn't have the room," said German coach Imre Szittya.

"We didn't play that much better yesterday than we did today. But we got no easy shots in the first half and that's why we lost."

The Belgians forced the issue straight off, feeding the ball to Wauters who had five points and an assist as Belgium built a 12-5 lead in the first five minutes.

Wauters was charged with her second foul with four minutes left in the first period, but remained in the game and Belgium led 18-10 going into the second period.

A three-pointer by Anne Breitreiner trimmed the deficit to five points.

Linda Fröhlich was whistled for her third foul with six minutes to play in the second and three-pointers by Wauters and Ilse Van der Vonder gave Belgium their biggest lead of the game at 31-18.

Germany worked hard defensively to keep Belgium from pulling away further and trailed 33-22 at half-time.

Germany opened the second half with the first five points to make it 33-27.

Belgium were unable to take advantage of a German swarm of mistakes, which saw them turn over the ball on six of seven possessions in one stretch.

Still, Laurent Buffard's side led 48-36 late in the third quarter.

Germany, however, closed the gap to 48-40 going into the fourth.

Belgium led by 11 points - 55-44 - after Anke De Mondt's three foul shots with five minutes left. Breitreiner's three-pointer cut the deficit to 55-51.

But with the score 57-53 with 37 seconds left, Wambe missed a lay-up but Martina Weber had the rebound go off her hands out of bounds and Wauters and Wambe combined for four foul shots down the stretch for the win.

"Against a team like Belgium, you can't get behind too far. You have to stay equal. And we were back by eight all the time and just couldn't get closer," said Weber, who finished with 14 points and five rebounds for 1-1 Germany.

Fröhlich struggled with foul trouble the whole game and was limited to eight points, nine rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block.

Breitreiner had a nightmare shooting showing, hitting just 4-of-13 from the field but scored 11 points and contributed eight rebounds.

Belgium finish their Group B campaign on Wednesday against Romania while Germany take on Lithuania.

Belgium are out to show their dominance of 1997 champions Lithuania was the real deal as they take on Germany in the Group B opener on Tuesday evening in Lanciano.

Both teams come into the showdown with a victory and the winner will most likely secure a berth in the qualifying round in Vasto and Ortona.

		Alexandra Müller led Germany against Romania with 22 points.

Last Time Out: Germany beat Romania 85-78 and Belgium dominated Lithuania 68-53.

Key Match-Up: Ann Wauters vs Linda Fröhlich. Here's a top-notch showdown of two of Europe's top low post players. Neither player was outstanding in their opener but guided their respective sides to the victory. And while Fröhlich actually plays quite a bit of power forward with Martina Weber and Petra Gläser in the lineup, look for these starlets to face off plenty.

X-Factor: Anke De Mondt. The Belgian wing player came up with a tremendous showing in collecting 18 points, four assists, two steals and just one turnover. She also helped Belgium harass Lithuania into 26 turnovers. De Mondt will be called upon to slow down Germany's long range bombers Alexandra Müller and Anne Breitreiner, who combined for 41 points on 9-of-16 from downtown.

Stats: Germany allowed Romania to score 78 points and will have to improve their defense if they stand a chance against the Belgians. The Germans also committed nine turnovers in the fourth quarter as they struggled to put away the Romanians.

Sounding Off: German coach Imre Szittya: "I think Belgium is a really tough team. But you saw that we can hit some three-pointers in some important stages and I think we'll fight just like we did against Romania. We just have to try to neutralise Ann Wauters and try to slow down their outside shooters. If we can keep them a bit under wraps, then we have a good chance."