Fresh off holding its ground against a top 10 team in the world in Brazil in the first game, Gilas Pilipinas was sent crashing down to earth after getting blown out by Hungary, 97-60, to remain winless in the FIBA Women’s World Cup pre-qualifying tournament at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda on Tuesday, Aug. 20.

The world No. 16 Hungary proved to be a tougher match for Gilas, simply towering over the Filipinas behind its 6-foot-10 center Bernadett Hatar.

Gilas tried to clog the paint to try and limit Hungary’s bigs but they were punished by the team’s three-point shooters who connected from deep in the first half resulting to a 51-24 deficit at the break.

The Nationals got their offensive groove going in the last two quarters but the lead was just too much to overcome.

“Tough loss. I think this actually hurts more than the first game because in the first game, we came out as underdogs but we fought like the bigger person on the court,” said guard Ella Fajardo.

More than the blow out, the loss dashed all the hopes for Gilas to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.

“I think we had the agenda to double up first as coach Pat was telling us to do then we had to back out on that because their bigs are really good at kicking out the ball,” she added as Gilas, as expected, got outrebounded, 57-24.

Afril Bernardino was the lone bright spot for Gilas with 11 points, six rebounds and four steals while Fajardo chipped in 10 off the bench. Jack Animam’s offense took the toll after she was left as the primary defender to the Hungary’s bigs along with Kacey Dela Rosa.

She only finished with six points and a rebound – a far cry from her 18 points and 21 rebounds in the first game.

Agnes Torok benefitted from the attention her bigs were getting, top scoring Hungary with 23 points.