Gilas belles bow to South Koreans

MANILA, Philippines — The Gilas Pilipinas women’s squad remained winless in two matches after absorbing another blowout loss against South Korea, 114-75, in Day 2 of the FIBA Asia-Oceania Women’s Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament yesterday at The Trusts Arena in Auckland, New Zealand.

After suffering a lopsided 111-54 defeat against the hosts the other day, the over-matched Filipinas were clobbered right in the opening frame that set the stage for the 39-point loss versus the superior Koreans.

Listed No. 18 in FIBA Women world rankings, powerhouse Korea proved to be miles ahead of the 50th-ranked Phl cagebelles after shooting an impressive 50-percent clip compared to the latter’s 34-percent mark.

Korea also dominated the Philippines in rebounds, 55-40, and assists, 34-16.

Leeseul Kang nailed four triples to finish with 16 points and three boards in just 18 minutes of play as seven more Koreans scored double figures in a scattered attack.

Korea improved to 2-0 in Pool A after a narrow 81-80 win over China in the opener while the Nationals fell to 0-2.

Afril Bernardino paced the Filipinas with 19 while Janine Pontejos added 17 on three treys but no other cager managed to provide the needed support.

Korea goes for a group sweep against NZ (1-1) while the Philippines seeks to avoid a winless campaign against China (1-1) at the end of preliminaries today.

This FIBA Women Pre-OQT is the last tournament for the Filipina ballers before their campaign in the 30th Southeast Asian Games which the country is hosting from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.