HANOI — The Gilas Pilipinas women's squad is keen to not let their guard down after a dominant 3-0 start in the 31st Southeast Asian Games here.
Fresh from a 118-87 beatdown of hosts Vietnam at Thanh Tri Gymnasium on Thursday, the Filipina cagers aren't planning on giving an inch against their competitors with two games left on their schedule.
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"I think we've learned our lesson. Since 2015, 2017, talagang heartbroken lahat kami," said head coach Pat Aquino, alluding to the editions of the SEA Games where the Gilas women failed to even land on the podium.
"I think, 'di namin papakawalan ito. We'll try to do our very best, talagang sana makuha natin yung gold," he added.
The Gilas women are looking to make it back-to-back golds for the country, after winning it for the first time in program history in the 2019 edition of the biennial meet in Manila.
Now, after three blowout victories in their medal retention bid, they have no plans of letting up.
"Nagfofocus lang kami. One at a time kami. 'Di po kami nag-ooverthink na sa susunod na game, ganito dapat," said Khate Castillo, who scored 25 points against Vietnam.
"Kung ano yung game namin, focus muna kami dun, nagtitraining kami and nag-uusap kami as a team," she added.
The Gilas women take a break after playing three games in four days before they kick things off again during the weekend.
They face Singapore and Malaysia on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.