Gilas Pilipinas Women take down Chinese Taipei, earn FIBA Asia Cup play-in spot

The Philippine national women’s basketball team on Wednesday made some history, taking down Chinese Taipei, 92-81, as Gilas Pilipinas Women bagged its breakthrough win in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, the first since being promoted to Division A in 2015.

The victory was made even more special as it allowed Gilas Women to book a spot in the play-in stage and avoid relegation. They will next face the second seed in Group A for a semifinals slot.

It was a total team effort for the Filipina ballers with newcomer Vanessa De Jesus again owning the spotlight with 25 points and four assists.

Veterans Afril Bernardino and Jack Animam churned out double-double efforts with the seasoned Bernardino pouring in 18 points and 10 rebounds and Animam registering 16 markers and 15 boards.

De Jesus' buzzer-beater triple to end the second period saw Gilas Women enjoying a 51-38 halftime lead before Chinese Taipei trimmed that down to just six in the third, 58-64.

Jhazmin Joson and Bernardino then opened the payoff period with back-to-back buckets for a 14-point lead, 76-62, but a quick 8-0 run allowed Chinese Taipei to cut the lead down to just 76-70 spread for the Filipinas.

Cheng I-Shiu made it a 78-74 deficit for Chinese Taipei but the Philippines held on, uncorking a 14-3 closing run to clinch the historic win.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News