Gilas Pilipinas Women U16 began its promotion bid on a high note following a 79-40 romp of Hong Kong in the FIBA U16 Women’s Asian Championship 2023, Monday night at the Prince Hamzah Sport Hall in Amman, Jordan.
The young cagers unloaded a 15-2 blitz abridging the first and second quarters to construct a 27-13 lead, and the game would never be in doubt as they went on to seize early leadership of Group A (1-0) in Division B.
Ava Fajardo bannered the rout with a game-high 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, along with six rebounds, three assists, and four steals.
Ryan Nair and Alyssia Palma made their mark as well with 12 and 10 markers, respectively. The duo combined for 10 of the team’s 72 boards.
A total of 10 players scored at least two points for Coach Pat Aquino but it was really their defense that made wonders in the triumph.
The team collected a total of 22 steals and forced the opposition to commit 34 turnovers, scoring 26 points off those.
Gilas would lead by as many as 41 in the conquest, indeed a good first step in achieving the ultimate goal after falling short of earning the Division A promotion in last year’s edition also in Amman, where they only finished third.
The Philippines will next face Maldives on Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. (Manila time) in an attempt to move closer to securing the top seed in the group.
Tsz Ching Kam, meanwhile, led Hong Kong with 14 points in the loss.
Yan Ting Tai was her lone support with 11 markers and 10 rebounds.
The Scores:
Philippines (79) – Fajardo 17, Nair 12, Palma 10, Mercado 6, De Jesus 8, De La O 7, Canindo 7, Smith 5, Sayson 5, Navarro 2, Arnaldo 9, Lapasaran 0.
Hong Kong (40) – Kam 14, Tai 11, Cheung 4, Siu 3, Lo 2, Cheng 2, Mak 2, Ngan 2, Chan 0, Chung 0, Fung 0.
Quarterscores: 17-11, 37-20, 58-28, 79-40.
