Vanessa De Jesus did not disappoint in her Gilas Pilipinas Women debut, rising because the lone shiny spot of their 105-34 loss to host Australia within the 2023 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup on Monday.
And the 21-year-old guard felt the love and help from the Philippines regardless of the lopsided defeat.
“Honestly I’ve been waiting for this for a while now. It was honestly a dream come true. And I’m just excited to gather again for tomorrow and come out even stronger and enjoy this experience,” De Jesus stated within the post-game press convention in Sydney, Australia.
“I knew [before] coming in here that we had fans here in Sydney and just finally being here in this atmosphere and just hearing them, honestly, I’m just so grateful for all the love and support from them and it makes the game even more fun.”
“We’re playing for them so I’m happy to have their support.”
Against a lot taller and extra skilled world no. 3 Opals, De Jesus unleashed 18 factors on a 58.3-percent capturing proportion. The Duke University star admitted that Australia made changes on its protection within the second half, particularly after she dropped 14 of her total output within the opening half.
True sufficient, the hosts asserted their dominance within the rebounding division with 62 boards whereas the Philippines had solely 22. The Filipinas have been additionally restricted to only 11 factors in that second half.
“Obviously they were the bigger team and I think, you know, they made adjustments but we also made adjustments but some shots just weren’t falling in the second half,” De Jesus added.
Still, De Jesus stated they’ll be taught from this sport as they tackle five-time defending champion Japan on Tuesday.
“I think we came out excited to play, but obviously Australia is a good team and I think we can just learn from this and then come back tomorrow even stronger.”
—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
