Gilas Women go 2-0 after dominating Singapore
Published on May 11, 2023

Gilas Pilipinas Women stayed undefeated in the Women’s 5×5 Basketball Tournament of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games after downing Singapore, 94-63, Thursday afternoon in Cambodia.

Just like in their first game, all 12 players contributed in their second game of the tournament. Khate Castillo led the way this time around with 14 points built on four 3-pointers. Ella Fajardo continued her stellar run in the tournament with 11 points and four assists. Angel Surada dominated the paint with nine points and 12 rebounds.

A monster third quarter by Gilas put separation between them and their opponents. They scored 22 points, but more importantly, limited Singapore to just five points.

Gilas held Singapore scoreless for the first six minutes of the second half. During that same span, they scored 15 straight points. The run was started by Afril Bernardino and was soon joined by fellow mainstays Jack Animam and Janine Pontejos.

In the fourth quarter, Castillo nailed back-to-back triples to give Gilas a 29-point lead. The Philippines was able to build several 33-point leads in the final period to keep Singapore at bay.

Gilas is now 2-0 in the tournament and will face  2022 silver medalists Indonesia tomorrow at 2:00 PM Philippine time. The team with the best record at the end of the tournament will take home the gold medal.