Gilas Girls complete sweep of FIBA U18 Asia Cup group stage as Syria forfeits

Gilas Pilipinas Girls were awarded a 20-0 win after a forfeiture from Syria to complete a group stage sweep in the 2024 FIBA U18 Asia Cup Division B on Wednesday in China. 

With this, the youthful squad coached by Julie Amos improved to an unblemished 3-0 win-loss card in Group B to officially clinch a semifinals spot in the tournament. 

Based on the FIBA website, Syria did not see any action after forfeiting its games against Lebanon and Maldives as well, hence their disqualification from the tournament which will see the champion advancing to the 2026 FIBA U18 Women's Asian Championship.

Gilas Girls were coming off back-to-back thrashing of Maldives and Lebanon for a convincing 2-0 start. 

Against Maldives, the squad banked on the hot hands of the duo of Jolzyne Impreso and Alicia Villanueva, who both churned out 18 points to star in their lopsided 141-18 victory. 

Naomi Panganiban then took charge against the Lebanese side, pouring in an all-around outing of 25 markers on top of seven rebounds, eight assists, and four steals while Gab Ramos hammered out a double-double effort of 12 points and 19 rebounds. 

The Final Four round is slated on Saturday with Gilas taking on the winner of the qualification round to the semifinals, which will be duked out by Samoa and either Lebanon or Maldives. 

—Bea Micaller/JKC, GMA Integrated News