Gabriella Ramos (4) celebrates with her Gilas teammates in the Fiba U18 Women’s Asia Cup Seaba Qualifiers. –FIBA ASIA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–Gilas Pilipinas came out the gates hard and played with sustained brilliance all of Saturday afternoon to trample Malaysia, 100-68, in the Fiba U18 Women’s Asia Cup Seaba Qualifiers in Thailand.
Fresh off a rousing tournament debut, the Nationals picked the enemy apart with methodical precision at Ratchaburi Gymnasium, burying them in holes as deep as 36 points.
Gabriella Ramos was solid once again, this time leading the Filipinos in scoring with 29 points built on 12-for-18 shooting. She also pulled down 19 rebounds and had three steals in the rout that gave the program some sort of payback for its heartbreaking overtime loss to Malaysia in their Division B semifinal duel two years ago.
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Ava Fajardo, Ashlyn Abong, Naomi Panganiban and Alicia Villanueva—star of Friday’s blowout of Thailand—all finished in double figures to move a win away from a sweep of the short meet that serves as a qualifier for the Division B’s main showcase slated in Shenzen, China, this coming June.
Yu Rou Yap starred for Malaysia with 19 points. Yi Xin Yap added 13 while Ler Yee Low 11 for the Malaysians, who lost their second-straight game in the tournament.
This young crop of Gilas women, currently coached by Julie Amos, will next battle Indonesia, which is shooting for an identical 2-0 record against Thailand as of writing.