Vanessa De Jesus introduced herself to the FIBA Asia community with an early explosion, but it was not enough for Gilas Pilipinas as it lost to host Australia in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup opener, 105-34, on Monday night in Sydney. Australia began the game with a 30-7 explosion in the entire first quarter. De Jesus then led Gilas’ best showing during the second quarter when they scored 16 points, but Australia was too much as the home side still led, 56-23, at halftime. Australia finished the job by holding Gilas to only 11 points in the second half en route to the blowout. Darcee Garbin led Australia with 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting, eight rebounds, and two assists, while Lauren Scherf added 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists. De Jesus also got 18 points, including 14 in the first half, on 7-of-12 field goals and 4-for-5 from long range. The other games saw China crushing Lebanon, 89-44; Japan mauling Chinese Taipei, 94-53; and New Zealand escaping South Korea with a 66-64 win.
Source: Philippines News Agency