Gilas Girls suffer 32-point loss to China

Gilas Pilipinas Girls absorbed a sorry 50-82 loss to China in the qualifiation to semifinals of the FIBA U16 Asia Cup at the Arena Seremban in Malaysia on Friday.

Yuanshan Li led the Chinese with 18 points and grabbed four rebounds as they reached the aemifinal for the first time in eight years.

A triple by Ziyu Shu with 1:47 remaining in the second quarter capped an 8-0 that turned a slim 33-30 lead to a 41-30 advantage.

Yixin Yuan drained a triple of her own with 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter to post the biggest lead of the game, 82-50, with 32 points.

China imposed its size over the Philippines, bullying its way inside the pain with 48 points while also scoring 24 second chance points.

Hanyun Sun had a double-double night for the Chinese with 12 points and 15 rebounds along with Anni Li, who dropped 10 points and 14 boards.

Ella Smith had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Gilas Girls in a losing effort.

The Philippines will try to end its campaign on a high note as it takes on Chinese Taipei in a classification game on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the same venue.

It will be a rematch of their group stage match as the Philippines want to avenge their 48-74 loss to the Taiwanese last Tuesday.