Perlas Pilipinas loses FIBA Asia Women’s opener to Malaysia

Both teams struggle but Malaysia's slightly better 3-point and free throw shooting spells the difference in the opening game of the FIBA Asia Women's Championship

Ryan Songalia

@ryansongalia

Published 1:25 PM, August 29, 2015

Updated 1:34 PM, August 29, 2015

OPENING LOSS. Perlas Pilipinas will have to regroup after losing their FIBA Asia Women's Championship opener to Malaysia. Photo from FIBA.com

MANILA, Philippines - Allana Lim scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds but it wasn’t enough to push the Philippine women’s national basketball team past Malaysia, 71-64, in the opening match of the FIBA Asia Women’s Championship on Saturday, August 29 in Wuhan, China.

Both teams struggled from the field, with Malaysia, ranked 18 slots higher than Perlas Pilipinas at 40, shooting 38% (23/61) while the Philippines shot 31% (24/77).

The Philippines performed better in many key areas, winning the rebounding (45 to 40) and turnover (14 to 24) battles, but Malaysia was marginally more successful in 3-point shooting (7 conversions to 4) and free throws (18 makes to 12).

(READ: Guide to Perlas Pilipinas' campaign at FIBA Asia Women's Championship)

Perlas captain Merenciana Arayi turned in 8 points and 6 rebounds and Camille Sambile contributed 9 points and 4 steals.

Malaysia had 3 players in double digit scoring, led by Chiau Ting’s 17 points and 4 rebounds, plus 15 and 10 from Magdelene Low and Fook Yee Yap, respectively.

The Philippines returns to action tomorrow, Sunday, August 30 at 1 pm against the unrated Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, better known as North Korea.

The Philippines is in Group B along with Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, North Korea, and Sri Lanka. – Rappler.com