Gilas Women U18’s Jolzyne Impreso and Alyssa Rodriguez. Photo from FIBA. 

MANILA — Gilas Pilipinas women opened their 2024 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup U18 Division B campaign in a dominant manner.

This, after the young Filipina dribblers dismantled Maldives, 141-18, during their faceoff today at the Futian Sports Park in China.

Jolzyne Impreso led the Nationals with 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists, Alicia Villanueva finished with the same amount of points alongside one board and one dime, while Sophia Canindo, Gabriella Ramos, and team captain Ava Fajardo each posted 13 markers.

Gilas opened the contest by scoring 22 unanswered points which was ended by a three-pointer by Tiffany Reyes, and while Mariyam Malak Mohamed Sifan tried to stop the bleeding with her own trey, the Philippines retaliated with a 21-to-eight run to end the quarter with a 32-point advantage.

The Filipinas’ defense then went on to force Maldives to only score seven in the next three frames, with Gilas even limiting their counterparts to only one point in the third quarter, and also helping PH’s cause are the 53 turnovers as well as the 13% shooting of their opponents.

Sifan led her squad with nine points, and following her were Kalsam Kyna Nimal and Lyra Ahmed Firash who both had three.

Up next for Gilas is Lebanon whom they will be facing tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.