Gilas Girls pull away in fourth vs. Samoa, reach FIBA U18 Asia Cup finals

Gilas Pilipinas Girls staged a late surge to break away from Samoa and pull off a 71-47 victory and reach the championship round of the FIBA U18 Asia Cup Division B on Saturday in China.

Coming in with the odds stacked in their favor, the wards of head coach Julie Amos did not disappoint and cruised to yet another huge victory as they set up a finale duel against either Iran or Lebanon.

All it took to take the fight out of Samoa was a massive fourth quarter eruption with 18-year-old Alicia Margarett Villanueva and 16-year-old Ava Fajardo connecting from deep to power a telling 16-2 rampage that saw them zooming to a 65-41 cushion with still four minutes left. 

Sophia Canindo, Alyssa Rodriguez, and Ashlyn Abong put the seal with the final baskets as the Philippines limited Samoa to just eight points in the final frame. 

Fajardo top-scored Gilas with 19 points on top of four rebounds and two assists while Naomi Panganiban churned out 12 markers, highlighted by four straight free throws that gave them a 43-34 lead in the third period. 

Villanueva and Canindo each chipped in 11 points while also collaring eight and six rebounds, respectively, against a much taller Samoa side, which outrebounded Gilas, 65 to 58, behind the towering duo of 5-foot-11 Mylaani Sione and 5-foot-10 Kira-May Filemu

Gilas will look to sweep the tournament on Sunday when they take on a still undetermined opponent with the winner earning a Division A promotion.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News