Gilas Pilipinas Women couldn’t overcome an early double-digit hole, eventually falling to South Korea and absorbed their second loss in three games at the 2025 William Jones Cup.
A slow start proved too much to overcome for Gilas Pilipinas Women.
The Philippines couldn’t dig themselves out of an early hole, dropping a 58-80 decision against South Korea in their 2025 William Jones Cup clash at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium, on Friday (PH time), July 5.
Gilas Women trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, with Vanessa De Jesus—coming off a 23-point performance in their 83-66 win over Thailand—hampered by early foul trouble.
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South Korea kept their Asian rivals at bay the rest of the way, cruising to a dominant 22-point romp and improving to a 2-1 record.
Isaem Choie was firing on all cylinders, firing a team-high 23 points each while Jihyun Park added 17 markers.
Meanwhile, Sumayah Sugapong led the Nationals with 16 points while Jack Animam posted a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double. De Jesus ended up with just three points and missed nine of 10 shots with four turnovers.
Gilas Women dropped to 1-2 and now gear up for a high-stakes showdown against tournament leader Japan.
Sporting a 2-0 record, the Japanese squad opened with a dominant 103-49 rout of Thailand before grinding out a much-tighter 75-69 win over South Korea.
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