It is gut check time for the Philippine national women’s basketball team in the ongoing International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Women’s Asia Cup in Amman, Jordan.
Following its 93-52 defeat at the hands of Chinese Taipei early on Thursday morning (Manila time), Gilas Pilipinas slid to the bottom of Group B in preliminary play and will now take on the last place team from Group A — India — in the battle for seventh place on Friday.
The losing team between the Philippines and India will be relegated to Division B play in FIBA Asia.
It is the same predicament that the nationals faced in the last edition of the Women’s Asia Cup in 2019.
Against Chinese Taipei, the Filipina ballers battled early, but just could not sustain it the rest of the way.
Gilas stayed within striking distance of its opponent in the opening half, down by just 15 points, 45-30.
In the second half, however, Chinese Taipei piled it up, outscoring the Philippines, 31-11, in the third canto and just coasted along after on its way to the win.
The loss was the third straight for Gilas after losses to China and Australia previously.
Wen-Yu Lin paced Chinese Taipei with 19 points, followed by I-Hsiu Cheng and His-Yeh Liu with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
For the Philippines, it was Afril Bernardino who showed the way with a solid double-double of 24 points and 14 rebounds. Clare Castro, meanwhile, had 14 points and six boards.
“While we played better, we still have to improve on so many things. We just have to continue playing very hard, and come back stronger next time,” said Gilas Women coach Patrick Aquino in the post-game press conference. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo