For the first time in program history, Gilas Pilipinas Women will not play in the relegation match of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup Division A.
Gilas leaned on the inside presence of Jack Animam, the brilliance of Vanessa De Jesus, the veteran leadership of Afril Bernardino, and the hot shooting of the rest of the team.
The Philippines finally defeated Chinese-Taipei, taking a monumental 92-81 victory on Wednesday at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre.
This is Gilas Women’s first-ever win in the group phase of the continental meet since the tournament was split into two divisions. This is also the first win of the Philippines against Chinese-Taipei in three tries.
Gilas finished Group B at third with a 1-2 slate. It will face the second-placed team of Group A in the play-in on Friday.
“It’s our first win in pool play. We are just so happy,” said Gilas head coach Patrick Aquino, who steered the Philippines to Division A back in 2015.
“It proved that we belong in the FIBA Asia Cup. I hope that this is not the last and we hope to continue winning.”
There were a lot of heroes for the Filipinas in the contest.
Duke senior Vanessa De Jesus continued her spectacular play in her Gilas debut, finishing with 25 points.
Jack Animam, who is making her return to the national team after a long absence, got 16 points on a perfect 8-of-8 clip and 15 rebounds. Meanwhile, mainstay Afril Bernardino tallied a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three steals, three assists, and a block.
“I just told them to stay focused and execute well, lessen their mistakes, and take care of the ball. I can’t say it enough already. This girl is my leader, we’ve been through a lot,” said Aquino about Animam. “Vanessa playing well and Afril has always been there. We are just happy with how we played.”
For the first three quarters, Gilas made huge runs to gain cushion but the Taiwanese kept coming back.
And Chinese-Taipei’s biggest run came in the final frame, slicing a 72-62 lead down to 78-74 with a little over four minutes left.
Camille Clarin and Animam scored on back-to-back hits to stop the bleeding while De Jesus cleaned up her own mess that served as the dagger with 2:09 remaining.
Another vet in Janine Pontejos scored nine points as well — all from deep — despite having the flu. Also having productive outings were Ella Fajardo (6 points), Mikka Cacho (5 points), and Clarin (5 points).
Chinese-Taipei, who will face Lebanon in the relegation match, was led by Lin Yuting with 21 points.
The Scores:
Philippines 92 – De Jesus 25, Bernardino 18, Animam 16, Pontejos 9, Fajardo 6, Cacho 5, Clarin 5, Cabinbin 4, Surada 2, Joson 2, Ozar 0, Castillo 0.
Chinese-Taipei 81 – Lin 21, Han 15, Cheng 15, Huang 13, Liu 6, Chen W. 5, Chen M. 4, Chen Y. 2, Pan 0, Chang 0.
Quarterscores: 29-20, 51-38, 72-62, 92-81.
