#FIBAAsiaCupWomen: Gilas Women stays in Division A after blasting past India

Capping off their campaign in Bangalore, the Philippines will stay in the Division A of the FIBA Women's Asia Cup after making quick work of host nation India, 92-78 Friday evening.

After being mauled in Group B by Australia, China and New Zealand to finish winless in their group, the Gilas Women's Team of coach Patrick Aquino survived a huge middle quarters rally by their victims, pulling away late in the game to preserve their elite status by finally getting the win after four tries to finish seventh in the tournament.

With the backs against the wall the dynamic backcourt tandem of Janine Pontejos and Kate Castillo were instrumental in staving off relegation, as the 

Pontejos led the Filipinas with 18 points while hitting half of her shots from the field, while Castillo exploded off the bench after the former La Salle sniper only missed once from beyond the arc for 15 of her own, with four more hitting double figure territory for their first win since relegating North Korea two yeas ago at the same venue.

Although they were almost even at the total field goal department, their outside shooting became key as they hit 13 triples, and they outnumbered their South Asian counterparts rather convincingly in the rebounds and the assists department.

Gilas Women came firing from all cylinders in the first half as they erected a 28-16 lead in the first, but they have to stave off the Indian assault which reduced their edge to just three points heading into the break.

The standoff continued in the third with both teams hitting huge shots, but the final quarter was a different story as the Filipinas dropped a 12-0 bomb to send the host nation down for good.

The scores: 

PHILIPPINES 92 -- Pontejos 18, Castillo 15, Nabalan 13, Miranda 11, Hayes 11, Bernardino 10, Animam 7, Chan 5, Cabinbin 2, Tongco 0, Jose 0, Daez 0

INDIA 78 -- Limaye 23, Udayakumar 15, Mahesha 12, Skaria 10, Kumari 6, Geetha 5, Sonkar 4, Arvind 2, Nixon 1, Kaur 0, Kokkalera 0, Rajaganapathi 0

Quarter scores: 28-16, 41-38, 63-57, 92-78

(Photo by FIBA)