Gilas women clobber Singaporeans to stay undefeated

Game Friday

(Morodok Elephant Hall 2)
2 p.m. – Philippines vs Indonesia

MANILA, Philippines – Back-to-back champion Gilas Pilipinas women scored another blowout win, trashing Singapore in a one-sided 94-63 affair to stay unbeaten in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games Thursday night at the Morodok Techo Stadium Elephant Hall 2 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The Filipina ballers picked up from where they left off following a 60-point debut win against host Cambodia behind a balanced attack anew with four players barging into double digits.

Khate Castillo fired 14 points on four triples in only 15 minutes of play while Afril Bernardino and Ella Fajardo threw in 11 apiece as Gilas climbed to 2-0 in a three-peat bid.

Clare Castro added 10 with Angel Surada hauling down nine points and 12 boards for the wards of coach Pat Aquino, who on Friday will play in their third straight match in as many days against last edition’s silver medalist Indonesia.

The Nationals will have little to no break in a three-peat bid as they are also in line to slug it out against Vietnam Saturday, Thailand the next day and Malaysia in the final day of the women’s hoops tilt featuring a single-round robin format.

The team with the best record takes the gold.

Gilas drubbed Cambodia, 114-54, the other day but found Singapore a tougher nut to crack at least in the first half.

The Nationals held to only a 45-38 lead after the first two quarters as Singapore stood its ground in the second by outscoring the reigning champions, 24-20.

But Gilas would flaunt its full might after the intermission with a searing 15-0 rally to break the gates wide open at 60-38.

Then, it never looked back.

Zhi Yan Amanda Lim (18) and Chu Yin Chan (13) paced the Singaporeans.