After getting a sound beating against crack rivals, Gilas Pilipinas Women bounced back, punching a 92-81 victory over Chinese Taipei to keep its flickering hopes alive in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup Wednesday at the Sydney Olympic Park in Australia.
The troika of Vanessa de Jesus, Afril Bernardino and Jack Animam was red-hot, helping Gilas avert relegation as they formally marched into the next round of this prestigious continental tournament.
It was the best offensive game of the Filipinas following a 34-105 loss to Australia and 57-97 setback to Japan in their first two matches.
“We came out more aggressive and we continued competing,” Gilas coach Patrick Aquino said.
“We know we were up against a good team in Chinese Taipei but we came out all out and somehow our two defeats earlier against Australia and Japan had toughened us up.”
De Jesus, the player from Duke University who is representing Gilas as naturalized player, pumped in 25 points on an 11-of-19 shooting from the field while also dishing out four assists.
‘We came out more aggressive and we continued competing.’
Bernardino, the Most Valuable Player when the Philippine women’s team ruled the Southeast Asia Basketball Association in 2016, and Animam, the most outstanding player of Gilas when they first won the gold medal in the SEA Games, both completed a double-double performance.
The 6-foot-1 Bernardino ended up with 18 points and 10 boards while Animam, a lefty center, came away with 16 points and 15 boards.
With Animam and Bernardino working double time in getting the boards, the Filipinas grabbed 41 rebounds, seven more than their rivals.
Gilas shot a steady 58 percent from the two-point region with Bernardino and Animam muscling their way inside.
Even De Jesus, who took most of her shots from beyond the arc in the first two games, had to pick her spots and took higher-percentage shots.
Overall, the Filipinas scored 58 points from the paint, 22 more than Chinese Taipei, which was clobbered by Japan, 94-53, and Australia, 91-45.
The Philippines’ second unit also outplayed its rival, producing 24 points coming from the bench compared to 17 from Chinese Taipei.
But the Filipinas also did well shooting from the three-pointers as they hit 43 percent from beyond the arc, and most of the baskets made came from Janine Pontejos, who hit a perfect 3-for-3 shooting.
Gilas, who finished Group B at third with a 1-2 slate, will face the second placed team of Group A, New Zealand, in the quarterfinals on Friday.
