Japan defeated the Philippines 85-82 in their 2nd game in Group B at the FIBA Womens Asia Cup in Shenzhen, south Chinas Guangdong Province, on Monday, securing their 2nd straight win.Japan outscored their opponents 31-20 in the very first quarter and continued to increase their lead steadily as the game went on.
Maki Takada made 5 of her 6 efforts outside the three-point line to score a team-high 20 points for Japan.
After Miwa Kuribayashi made an easy layup at the start of the fourth quarter, they were ahead by 22 points at 81-59, the largest gap of the night.However, the Philippines resisted hard and outscored Japan 25-8 in this quarter.
Jack Animam showed supremacy in the paint on her way to a game-high 24 points.
When Vanessa De Jesus made the last-second three-pointer from the left corner, she helped her side cut their deficit to no greater than three points at 85-82.
In the other group B game, Australia revealed absolutely nothing but supremacy versus Lebanon with a 113-84 win and had eight gamers getting at least 10 points.Australia and Japan will face each other on Tuesday.