By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas women’s team leaned on a huge third quarter explosion to turn back Iran, 64-58 and pick up its first win in the 42nd William Jones Cup at the Taipei Peace Basketball Hall on Sunday, Aug. 6.
Just like in the first game which the Filipinas dropped to host Chinese Taipei, offensive woes hampered Gilas in the first two quarters before finally getting its bearings going in the third frame, erupting for 26 points.
More importantly, Gilas’ defense, after giving up 21 points in the second frame, finally bared its fangs, limiting Iran to a measly nine points in the pivotal third quarter run.
Jhazmin Joson and Kacey Dela Rosa shared the top scoring honors with 12 points apiece although the former dropped six of his total in the third quarter to set the tone for the Gilas win that knotted its win-loss record to 1-1.
Joson was also on target with four connections from deep while Dela Rosa’s second-straight impressive performance also came with eight rebounds, a steal and a block.
Jack Daniel Animam only had seven points but made her presence felt on the boards after hauling down 15 rebounds.
Gilas, which struggled offensively in the first two quarters with only 23 points on the board against Iran’s 30, found itself up by 10 points, 49-39, after the massive 17-point third quarter turnaround.
Iran tried to mount a comeback in the final frame behind Negin Rasoulipour Khameneh, who finished with 18 points, but it was not enough to overcome Gilas in the end.
