MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Women 3×3 ran out of gas in the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup in Singapore and saw their unbeaten run come to a halt in the quarterfinals following a 19-9 defeat to Chinese Taipei on Sunday, March 31.

Winning all five of their games from the qualifying draw to the pool stage, the banged-up Filipinas failed to advance as they struggled to keep in step with the bigger Taiwanese.

Mikka Cacho bravely played through a right knee injury and joined hands with Camille Clarin and Kaye Pingol to steer Gilas Women to a 5-4 lead before Chinese Taipei turned the tides.

The Taiwanese uncorked an 9-1 run to build a commanding 13-6 lead as they pounced on the Filipinas’ shooting woes, with Kuo Hung-Ting and Chen Yu Chieh scoring 4 and 3 points, respectively, during that crucial stretch.

Kuo and Chen finished with 8 points each to propel Chinese Taipei to the final four.

Clarin paced Gilas Women with 3 points and 5 rebounds, while Cacho tallied 3 points as she played sparingly due to her injury.

Kaye Pingol scored 2 points and Jhazmine Joson got limited to 1 point after missing all of her five attempts from two-point distance.

Joining Chinese Taipei in the semifinals are New Zealand, Australia, and Mongolia.

While the Filipinas reached the knockout round, Gilas Men ended their campaign without a win after bowing to Australia and Japan in the pool stage. – Rappler.com