Gilas women rapped by Kiwis

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas women suffered a heavy 111-54 beating at the hands of New Zealand to open its 2019 FIBA Asia-Oceania Women’s Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament campaign at The Trusts Arena in Auckland.

The Filipinas actually had a decent start, standing their ground against the powerhouse Kiwis with a close 17-24 first quarter score before absorbing a massive 11-36 shellacking in the second period to stare at a huge 28-60 halftime deficit.

Gilas women never recovered from there as New Zealand cruised to an emphatic 57-point victory.

Five players scored in double digits for a well-balanced NZ attack led by Tessa Boagni with a perfect 6-of-6 clip to finish with 16 points.

Afril Bernardino topscored with 17 points for the Nationals who got dominated in rebounds (68-25) and assists (35-11). Janine Pontejos (10) and Kelli Hayes (10) were the only other bright spots for the Filipinas who are using this tournament as their final build-up for the coming 30th Southeast Asian Games.

Gilas women take on South Korea next at 10 a.m. (Manila time) today.