Gilas Pilipinas Women absorbed a tough blow to its title aspirations in the 44th William Jones Cup, falling to South Korea, 58-80, Friday afternoon at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.
The Philippines dropped to 1-2 with Japan, the lone unbeaten team in the tournament, in its next matchup tomorrow at 2:00 PM.
A loss to the Japanese national team will eliminate the Philippines from title contention.
The final standings after the single round-robin among the six squads will determine the podium.
The South Koreans took control of the game early on, building a 26-12 cushion after the first frame thanks to Kang Lee-seul’s eight points as well as Park Jihyun and Heo Yeeun tallying six points apiece in that early dominance.
That spelled the difference for the match as Gilas Pilipinas could not get anything going except for a few spurts that South Korea easily answered with runs of their own.
Choi Isaem waxed hot for the South Koreans, unloading 23 points on a clean 10-of-12 clip from the field in just 14 minutes and 17 seconds of action.
Park added 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals, while Kang had 12 points and five boards as South Korea improved to 2-1 at the momentary solo second.
Sumayah Sugapong, who is just 19 years old, built confidence on her splendid outing yesterday against Thailand, pacing the Philippines in this game with 16 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block.
Jack Animam also continued to deliver for Gilas with 14 points and 13 rebounds but struggled heavily at the free throw line, converting just two of her 10 attempts.
Vanessa de Jesus was scouted well by the Koreans, being limited to just three points on a woeful 1-of-10 shooting from the field.
