GILAS Pilipinas Women hasn't really had the best runs so far in Amman in the 2021 Fiba Women's Asia Cup.
Drawn against two of the best nations in the world, the Filipinas have been on the receiving end of blowouts, tasting a 91-point bloodbath at the hands of world no. 7 China, 143-52, and another 64-point mugging courtesy of world no. 3 Australia to go 0-2 in Group B.
Losses take toll
And it has certainly taken its toll on coach Pat Aquino.
"It's really hard," he lamented. "It's a tough group that we're in. I think being the smallest among the group and having a game with those more expereinced players, we tried to get there. We try to improve every day, every game and we hope that we could be competitive in the future."
All hope isn't lost for the Philippines, though, as it wraps up its group stage assignments against world No. 34 Chinese Taipei on Thursday at Prince Hamza Hall with the winner earning a ticket to the knockout stages.
Afril Bernardino, Janine Pontejos, and Clare Castro will be tested once again as the Filipinas seek their first win in this trip at 12 a.m.
Since being promoted to Division A, Gilas Women have only faced the Taiwanese once, an 87-53 loss in 2017.
So far, the two nations have an equal standing, losing both of its games in the continental tilt as Chinese Taipei put up a good fight against Australia, 76-65, but got waylaid by China last night, 124-50. Still, the team got solid performances from the likes of Peng Hsiao-tong and Lin Yu-ting.
Nonetheless, Aquino is staying optimistic as he hopes that Gilas Women can build on the positives from the past games and spring an upset against Chinese Taipei.
"Having the girls play and getting the experience against those two tough teams we played, we'd like to move on and adjust. That's the main purpose here, to just compete," he said.
"I think after those two tough games that we've had, we'll have another day of competing."
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph