Gilas Pilipinas Girls fall to China, slip to FIBA U16 Women’s Asia Cup classification phase

China gave Gilas Pilipinas Girls a reality check, sending the Filipinas down to the classification phase of the FIBA U16 Women’s Asia Cup in Malaysia. It was a mountain too tall to climb for Gilas Pilipinas Girls. The young Filipinas fought valiantly in the early stretches, but China proved too much as the Philippines suffered a 82-50 beatdown in the FIBA U16 Women’s Asia Cup on Friday, September 26. Ella Smith (172-F-2010) led Gilas Girls with 14 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, but the Nationals were brought back to reality coming off a thrilling 77-75 escape against South Korea—a game decided by Tiffany Reyes’ dramatic buzzer-beater. Gilas Pilipinas put up some fight and held a 21-19 lead after the opening frame. But China’s strong 26-10 turnaround in the second canto put the Filipinas in a 31-45 hole at halftime. The Asian powerhouse then led by as many as 29 points en route to arranging a blockbuster semifinal showdown with three-time defending champion Australia. Yuanshan Li (178-F-2009) fired 18 markers to pace China, who held a whopping 62-36 rebounding edge against their smaller Filipina counterparts. With the loss, the Philippines dropped to a fifth-place classification match against Chinese Taipei on Saturday, September 27 at 2:00 p.m.
Courtesy of: onesports.ph