By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas Women’s U18 team begins its chase for the lone promotion to the Division A when it takes on Thailand in the FIBA U18 Women’s Asian Championship Division B on Monday, Sept. 5 in Bangalore, India.
Out to lead the Filipina cage belles are U16 members Kristan Yumul, Camille Nolasco and BJ Villarin who are all gunning for redemption after falling short of getting the promotion in the FIBA U16 tilt last June.
Tip-off of the match is at 6:15 p.m. (Manila time).
Yumul made heads turn following an impressive performance averaging 21.6 points, second-best in the tournament, built on at least five triples per game on top of 3.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds.
She led Gilas to Group stage sweep but fell to the hands of Samoa in the semifinals, 88-73, dashing all the hopes for the Filipinas to qualify to the Division A. Gilas settled for a third place finish in the tournament.
Yumul, though, will have plenty of reinforcements this time around as a slew of Filipino-American recruits are set for debut to the national team led by UC San Diego-commit Sumaya Sugapong.
Joining her are Kate Bobadilla, Ryhanna Calvert, Sydney Heyn, Ashley Loon, Hope Manglal-Lan, Kalynne Mendez, Louna Ozar, and Candice Udal.
Aside from Thailand, Gilas will also face Samoa and Maldives in the Group A. Gilas will need to finish atop the group standings to get an outright semifinals berth. Second and third placers in the two groups will then battle for the remaining semis spot via a crossover playoff while last place teams will be eliminated.
