GILAS Pilipinas Women’s bid for a breakthrough semifinal appearance at the 2026 Asian Games ended Thursday after a 83-71 loss to Chinese Taipei in the women’s 5-on-5 basketball quarterfinals at Aichi International Arena.
The Philippines made a promising start, racing to a 9-2 advantage early in the game. Chinese Taipei, however, responded with a decisive 13-0 run to close out the opening quarter and take control of the contest.
Gilas was unable to regain the lead after that stretch and spent the remainder of the game trying to catch up.
Afril Bernardino led the Philippines with 23 points, while Stefanie Berberabe and Janine Pontejos contributed 12 points apiece. Kent Jane Pastrana added 11.
Chinese Taipei received a balanced offensive effort led by Yu-wen Hsiao with 14 points. Ling-Chuan Huang scored 13, Ya-en Han added 11 and Wen-Yu Lin finished with 10.
The defeat ended the Philippines’ hopes of reaching the Asian Games semifinals for the first time.
It also meant Gilas Women could not improve on their fifth-place finish in the previous edition of the continental tournament. (Adrian Co)
