At A Glance
- Gilas Pilipinas couldn't find answers against the torrid shooting of Australia and absorbed a 115-39 beating on the opening day of the FIBA Women's Asia Cup at the Shenzhen Sports Center in China Sunday, July 13.
(FIBA)
Gilas Pilipinas couldn’t find answers against the torrid shooting of Australia and absorbed a 115-39 beating on the opening day of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup at the Shenzhen Sports Center in China Sunday, July 13.
The Nationals showed fight early on as they overcame a 0-12 deficit in the opening minutes and trimmed it to just five, 9-14, with Vanessa De Jesus and Naomi Panganiban conniving on the offensive end.
That, however, proved to be last stand from the Gilas side as the taller and stronger Opals displayed pure dominance by breaking the game wide open in the second frame – an onslaught that continued until the final buzzer.
The No. 2 Australia notched its first win in Group B, tying with No. 9 Japan which earlier pulled off a 72-68 escape over No. 54 Lebanon.
Gilas, though, has its chance to find its win form when it faces the Japanese Monday, July 14, at the same venue.
De Jesus topscored for Gilas with nine points on top of three rebounds and one assist, while Panganiban and Kent Pastrana chipped in eight points apiece.
Veteran Jack Animam, for her part, was limited to just two points on 1-of-11 shooting with five rebounds. Khate Castillo added six points.
On the other hand, six players from Australia finished with double-digit scoring output with Miela Goodchild leading with 19 points. Sara Blicavs and star Chloe Bibby backstopped her with 17 and 16 points, respectively.