AMMAN, FUHEIS (Jordan)—The Philippines booked the first flight to the Division B Semi-Finals following a dominant showing against hosts Jordan, 106-58, in the FIBA U16 Women’s Asian Championship 2023 Wednesday evening at the Prince Hamzah Sport Hall.
Three consecutive three-pointers courtesy of Scarlett Mercado, Sophia Canindo, and Nevaeh Smith midway into the second quarter sparked the one-sided affair as Gilas Women U16 went on to collect their third win in three outings to lock the no. 1 seed of Group A.
It will be the Philippines’ second straight trip to the Semis, this time hoping to redeem themselves after losing in the same stage of last year’s U16 competitions also held in Amman to Samoa, who eventually won it all and earned the promotion to Division A of this year’s meet.
Shannon Sayson led Gilas with 19 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 7 steals for an efficiency rating 29.0. Ava Fajardo, a part of last year’s team, poured 17 points, 4 boards, and 5 dimes.
Smith had 15 points, Ryan Nair made 11 points and 7 assists, while Mercado and Demicah Arnaldo added 10 apiece for the Philippines, who dished out 27 assists and collected 28 steals.
The Jordanians, meanwhile, were carried by the 26 points and 7 rebounds of Zena Alkarain in the defeat —their second in a row after Tuesday’s heartbreaker to Hong Kong. Photo and story from FIBA.com
