MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas Women leaned on the towering presence of Jack Animam to pull off a come-from-behind 63-56 win over Indonesia in the 30th Southeast Asian Games women’s basketball at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Animam, who was still wearing a protective mask after suffering an orbital fracture during the FIBA World Cup qualifier, nailed six of her nine points in the fourth period on Thursday night to start the Gilas Women’s campaign on a winning note.
Aside from Animam, who also collared 12 rebounds in the victory, Janine Pontejos was clutch. She drained four free throws in the endgame to finish with 16 points, five steals, three assists, and two rebounds.
Kelli Hayes also made her presence felt for the national women’s basketball team. She tallied 12 points and two rebounds in the morale boosting win before they face 2017 gold medalist Malaysia on Sunday.
Philippines head coach Patrick Aquino admitted that the win against the Indonesians was huge with the latter always dealing heartbreak to the national team in previous SEA Games.
“I’m just happy and thankful na we passed Indonesia,” Aquino said. “For the past two Southeast Asian Games that we played, this is one of the teams that tormented us. As I’ve said to the team earlier, if we pass Indonesia, our foot is inside the box already.”
Yuni Anggraeni finished with 16 points and six rebounds, while Sophia Gabriel was held to just eight points while also committing seven turnovers for the Indonesian basketball team./PN
