MALACCA, MALAYSIA— Perlas Pilipinas sizzled on offense and toughened up on defense to dump Laos, 179-32, in the Seaba Women’s Championship at Bukit Serindit Indoor Stadium here yesterday.
The Filipinos scored the first 10 points of the game and never held back while forcing the Laotians to 51 turnovers that led to 82 points.
It was a strong follow-up win by the Filipinos, who routed the Singaporeans, 69-43, the other day.
Applying pressure all the way, the Filipinos held their less-skilled opponents without a field goal in an eight-minute stretch and moved beyond reach, 86-16.
Rather than relax, however, the Filipinos intensified their attack and padded their lead to the century mark, 124-24.
Head coach Patrick Aquino explained the rationale behind the team’s no letup performance despite the huge skills advantage they had over their rivals.
“It’s a preparation for the next few games,” said Aquino. “It’s more of bringing the confidence level of the girls. It’s also a good time to rest the starting unit for the big games ahead while on the other hand, taking a conscious effort at looking at the quotient just in case a triple tie happens. We’ll never know.”
Eight Perlas Pilipinas players finished in double figures with Jack Animam scoring a career-high 28 points and pulling down a personal best 17 rebounds as she imposed her size advantage over the Laotians.
The 16-year-old Animam, a National University Lady Bulldog towering at 6-foot-4, hit 14-of-17 from the field.
Camille Sambile, the 2013 UAAP Most Valuable Player, contributed 26 points, followed by Janine Pontejos, who chipped in 19.
Mainstays Allana Lim, Cindy Resultay and Amby Almazan each tallied 18 points, while Afril Bernardino, the 2014 UAAP MVP, added 16.
Team captain Raiza Dy had 12 points in 11 minutes of action for Perlas Pilipinas which is being supported by Blackwater.
With no pressure at all, Aquino had the luxury of fielding all her players to prepare them for tougher games ahead.