By REYNALD MAGALLON
The Gilas Pilipinas women’s team suffered a huge collapse in the second half to absorb a stinging 58-61 loss to host Mexico to open the FIBA Olympic pre-qualifying tournament at the Arena Astros in Guadalajara on Tuesday, Aug. 18
The Nationals went off to a hot start, leading by as many as 15 points in the first half but just couldn’t sustain the momentum in the face of a furious Mexican fightback in the last two quarters.
After exploding for 13 points in the first half, Vanessa de Jesus was limited to just two in the second to finish with 15 points while Jack Animam had 14 points and six rebounds.
Kacey Dela Rosa finished with six points and 10 rebounds but fouled out in the fourth quarter, allowing the Mexicans to finally break through and take the lead.
Gilas was actually holding on to a comfortable 37-25 lead at the break but was limited to just 21 points the rest of the way. The Filipinas were still up 57-47 with six minutes left in the contest but Mexico unloaded a back-breaking 14-1 finishing kick to steal the game.
Gilas was still in the contest in the waning seconds, only down by one, 58-59 but Gilas failed to clear the rebound off a missed Mexico free throw allowing the host to pull through with the come-from-behind win.
Anisa Jeffries was a thorn to the side of Gilas with 17 points and 10 rebounds while Hazel Ramirez and Destiny Pitts had 12 apiece.
Up next for Gilas is powerhouse Canada on Thursday, Aug. 20.
