By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas U18 women’s team drubbed Maldives by 82 points, 110-28 to sweep its group stage assignments and book an outright semifinals berth in the FIBA Women’s U18 Asian Championship at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium in Bangalore, India on Wednesday, Sept. 7.
Louna Ozar led the five players who scored in double-digit for Gilas as the Filipinas proved to be too much for the lowly South Asian country and finished with 3-0 record in the standings.
Ozar unloaded 22 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field while Ryhanna Calvert provided support with 17 points, nine rebounds and seven steals.
Liane Ashely Loon added 14 points and seven steals while Kate Bobadilla sustained her impressive showing in the tournament with 17 points despite missing all of his five attempts from three-point territory. Kalynee Abraham was the other double-figure scorer in the team with 11.
The heavy favorite in the contest, the Filipinas leaned on their heft and athleticism especially on the defensive end as they limited Maldives to a single-digit scoring in all of the quarters. It had its best scoring quarter in the third with nine while Gilas exploded for 33 in the second quarter that ripped the game apart.
Ana Aminath Simad was the lone bright spot for Maldives scoring 15 of the team’s total output.
Gilas takes a two-day break on Thursday and Friday as it awaits its semis opponents which it will face on Saturday, Sept. 10.
