Kaye Pingol of the Gilas Pilipinas Women 3x3 team at the 6th Asian Beach Games. POC Media
MANILA -- The Philippine women's 3x3 team bucked a slow start but eventually took down Kyrgyzstan, 21-15, to sweep Group C at the Sanya Sports Centre Gymnasium on Monday.
The result propelled the Gilas Pilipinas women's 3x3 team to the quarterfinals of the 3x3 basketball competition in the 6th Asian Beach Games.
The Gilas Women had to battle back from an early deficit, with Kyrgyzstan taking advantage of their lax defense to surge to an early lead.
Veterans Mikka Cacho and Tantoy Ferrer sparked their comeback, before Gabi Bade and Kaye Pingol made key baskets down the stretch to turn back Kyrgyzstan.
Bade stressed afterward that they need to fine tune their defense if they want to push for a medal in the tournament.
"Defense. Defense is going to be the key to helping us win all of these games. We just had to stay focused on defense because our shots will come, will go through if we focus on defense," Bade said.
"You know, we can't underestimate any team. You know, every team is good. So we just got to come out and battle and fight each game."
Bade finished with five markers as Ferrer led the cavalry with eight points.
Cacho had seven points while Pingol was limited to just one point.
Gilas' quarterfinal opponent will be the winner of the play-in match of Kazakhstan and Macao.