MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Women wrapped up their William Jones Cup campaign in Taiwan with another loss after failing to contain hot-shooting Chanson V-Magic, 95-88, on Wednesday, August 9.

Janine Pontejos shot the lights out and churned out 20 points on a 4-of-6 clip from deep for the Filipinas, but the Japanese club also fired from all cylinders as they completed their unbeaten run and finished with 5-0 card.

Kimika Takanohashi scattered 15 of her game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter for Chanson, knocking down big buckets one after another to keep the Philippines at bay.

Gilas Women entered the final salvo up 69-65 off a 10-4 blitz spearheaded by returning national team player Gabi Bade, who started that run with a triple and ended it with a midrange jumper.

Takanohashi, though, took over and scored 8 points in a 15-4 stretch that gave the V-Magic an 80-73 lead with under six minutes remaining.

A pair of Pontejos treys pulled the Filipinas within a whisker, 81-82, but the Japanese connected on a couple of uncontested jumpers by Takanohashi and Mana Kaneda to create a 90-84 separation.

Takanohashi then sank the last of his eight three-pointers with 35 seconds left for the final tally.

Jack Animam backstopped Pontejos with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds with 2 blocks, while Afril Bernardino posted 11 points and 6 assists.

Monique del Carmen netted 9 points and 7 assists for the Philippines, which finished with a 1-4 record in the six-team tournament.

Gilas Women split their first two matches, bowing to Chinese Taipei A and beating Iran, before they absorbed three straight defeats at the hands of Chinese Taipei B, Korea, and Japan.

After the Jones Cup, the Filipinas are expected to see action in the Women’s Korean Basketball League as they gear up for the Asian Games in September. – Rappler.com