Elizabeth Means lived up to the billing in her Gilas Pilipinas Women debut, firing 23 points as the Philippines opened its 20th Asian Games campaign with an emphatic 86-58 win over Kazakhstan on Thursday at the Aichi International Arena.

The naturalized Filipina shot 9-of-17 from the field to lead Gilas Women to the top of Group B in just their second tournament under head coach Burke “BT” Toews.

“It was so fun. Like, it’s so fun to play with a group of girls who just love basketball so much and we work hard every single day. So, it’s fun that we got to apply it all in the game,” Means said in an interview with Cignal.

With the victory, the Philippines needs just one more win to secure a quarterfinal berth.

Stefani Bernabe sparked a 16-3 run with a layup with 9:13 left in the first quarter, turning an early 2-0 deficit into a 16-5 lead as Gilas Women took control.

The Filipinas never looked back and stretched their advantage to 39 points, 79-30, after Kent Pastrana knocked down a triple with 9:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Gilas Women capitalized on Kazakhstan’s 38 turnovers, converting them into 28 points while also scoring 28 fastbreak points.

The Philippines also fired 10 triples and converted 10 of their 11 free throws.

Bernabe added 11 points and eight assists, while Pastrana, Jhazmin Joson and Janine Pontejos chipped in eight points apiece.

Tamara Noiok led Kazakhstan with 11 points.

The Philippines will look to clinch a quarterfinal berth when it faces Hong Kong on 20 September at the same venue.

Gilas Women is looking to improve from its fifth-place finish in the 2023 Hangzhou Asiad in China.

The Philippines is playing without key players Jack Animam and Kacey dela Rosa in the roster.

Animam, a longtime Gilas Women veteran, last played for the national team in the FIBA Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico last August while Dela Rosa will compete in the women’s 3x3 basketball event, which starts on 21 September at the Kinjō-futō Station Square.