Gilas defeated the host country by 60 points.
If they were indeed feeling jittery, no one really noticed.
Gilas Pilipinas opened its bid for a third straight gold medal in the 32nd Southeast (SEA) Games’ women’s 5-on-5 basketball on Wednesday with a 114-54 win over Cambodia. It was a masterful display by the defending champs against the hosts, who fielded multiple naturalized players. But somehow, despite the wide margin of victory, getting the first win wasn’t as easy as it looked.
After the game at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Gilas coach Pat Aquino divulged the team's unease going into the opener versus the Cambodians.
“For the past how many weeks, we’ve been really jittery [waiting] to play the first game. And playing the first game against the host nation, talaga namang they came all out,” Aquino told One Sports.
The Cambodian side had four naturalized reinforcements, led by former WNBA player Meighan Simmons, compared to Gilas' zero. Aside from Simmons, the hosts also had Mariah Cooks, Brittany Dinkins, and Kim Hanlon.
But for Aquino, the most important thing for them to do was to face the challenge and move forward. And that they did.
“We didn’t know who would be the Cambodian players. So, we’re just happy na tapos na ‘to,” Coach Pat said.
Given their jitters, it’s truly impressive how the Philippine contingent was able to turn the contest in a one-sided affair. According to the Gilas mentor, it was just a matter of keeping things simple and sticking to their strengths.
“We just took advantage of whatever we could get from them.”
He now hopes that his wards can replicate their excellent opening performance in their next outing.
“We have to move on to the next game. Hopefully magawa ulit namin ‘to [in order to] sustain what we’re doing.”
Gilas’ next game is against Singapore, taking place today at 4:00 p.m. If they're no longer jittery at this point, just imagine what the Filipino lady hoopers could do against their Singaporean counterparts.
(GM)