Gilas U16 women fall to Samoa in semis, to play for third place

The Gilas Pilipinas Women U16 team fell to Samoa, 88-73, on Wednesday in the semifinals of the 2022 FIBA U16 Women's Asian Championship held in Jordan.

Samoa relied on a strong second quarter performance where they scored 28 points and limited the Philippine team to just 12 to end the first half at 53-30. From there, Samoa took control of the game until the final buzzer despite Gilas outscoring Samoa in points per quarter in the second half.

Naomi Panganiban led Gilas women with 15 points, while Ava Fajardo and Kristan Geyl Yumul added 14 and 13 points apiece.

Meanwhile, Kira-Mey Filemu tallied a game-high 36 points to bring Samoa to the Finals.

The Philippine team won all its games in the group phase of the tournament where they faced Indonesia (104-68), Syria (92-86), and their opponent Samoa (94-65).

With the loss, Gilas U16 will play the loser of the match between Lebanon and Syria in the battle for third place. The team will also be retained in Division B of the tournament. Only the top team from Division B will be promoted to Division A of the 2023 FIBA U16 Women's Asian Championship.

—JMB, GMA News