MANILA, Philippines — The Gilas Pilipinas youth girls basketball team are through to the semifinals of the FIBA U16 Women's Asian Championship Division B after sweeping Group A with a win over Samoa, 94-65, at the Prince Hamza in Amman, Jordan on Sunday.
An all-around team win, led by Kristan Yumul's 22 points, towed Gilas to a 3-0 record in the group phase, thus giving them an automatic slot to the semifinals.
Though the rout was not apparent for Gilas, the young cagebelles managed to continue to push the pace on offense and slowly build their lead.
By the fourth salvo, Gilas' advantage ballooned to as big as 31 points.
Three players finished in twin digit scoring as BJ Villarin and Naomi Panganiban added 13 and 14 markers, respectively.
Camille Nolasco and Samantha Medina also tallied nine points each.
The Gilas girls, after playing three games in just as many days, get days off on Monday and Tuesday before plunging into the semifinal between the winner of the semifinal qualification match between the second placer in Group B and the third placer in Group A.
The Philippine youth team, competing in the tiff for the first time since 2009, are looking to get promoted to Division A by the end of the tournament.