The Philippines rued its second-half meltdown in its 84-101 loss to Nigeria in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Lyon, France last Saturday.

Gilas Pilipinas Women head coach Pat Aquino said they need to tighten their defensive screws after failing to sustain their momentum against the reigning AfroBasket champions.

Janine Pontejos and Kent Pastrana dropped 16 points each against the Nigerians as they absorbed their third straight loss at the Astroballe.

“Yeah, it was a great first half for us. But then again, we have to sustain our defense,” Aquino said.

“The numbers are there, but we’re giving more numbers to the other team. That’s been our target now — to play good defense until the end and not just fold in the last quarter.”

The Philippines looked poised to pull off an upset after a 51-42 lead after the first half.

But the Nigerians slowly crawled back up and took the lead, punctuated by a 20-4 run with 6:19 remaining in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

The Nigerians dominated the rebounding department, grabbing 58 boards compared to the Philippines’ 33.

With two games left in their campaign, Aquino stressed the need to finish strong if they want a chance to be the top two teams to clinch a berth for the World Cup.

Gilas Women are battling South Korea at press time.