Coach Pat Aquino lauds Gilas Women's effort in FIBA Asia Cup loss to Japan

Despite falling to five-time defending FIBA Women's Asia Cup champion Japan, Philippine national women's basketball team head coach Patrick Aquino lauded the effort from his wards after putting up more of a fight this time around.

"I'm happy that we came out good this time and not as flat as yesterday. It's just a tough team to beat," Aquino said in the post-game press conference.

"They're aiming for a sixth straight championship and I think Japan is a great team. We're happy, I'm happy with the game and hopefully we continue to get stronger each day."

Gilas Women opened their campaign on Monday with a lopsided 105-34 loss to host Australia, and they vowed to bounce back with a better effort when it took on Japan. True to their word, the Filipinas gave their Japanese counterparts a a good fight early before the Asian powerhouses pulled away for good in the second half.

The Philippines lost to Japan, 95-57, to fall to 0-2 in the standings.

"We did some adjustments on defense but again, they're such a great team and we, as a team, had to adjust more on how they play but I think we did a good adjustment today than yesterday," Aquino added.

"Nobody just bowed their heads after being under such a big lead, we kept on fighting and competing. That's what we aim for right now."

Compared to yesterday's game where only Duke University's Vanessa De Jesus scored in double-digits, three Gilas players were able to reach the 10-point mark in this one.

De Jesus and veteran Afril Bernardino each dropped 12 markers while Janine Pontejos chipped in with 11 markers.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News