Gilas Pilipinas' Sumayah Sugapong shoots over the defense of South Korea during their Jones Cup matchup Friday.

(William Jones Cup via Facebook)

MANILA, Philippines — The Gilas Pilipinas women absorbed a crucial loss in the 2025 William Jones Cup after falling to South Korea, 80-58, Friday in Taiwan.

Coming off a huge 83-66 win over Thailand the day prior, Gilas was sent crashing back to Earth by the mighty South Korean team ranked 14th in the world.

Isaem Choi and Jihyun Park sparked the winning team, finishing with 23 and 17 points, respectively.

South Korea came out waxing hot, making 10 of their 22 shots in the first quarter while keeping Gilas women at 5-of-19 to go up by double digits, 26-12, heading to the second frame.

This set the tone for the rest of the game, as the Philippines played catchup the rest of the way.

Gilas was still within striking distance early in the fourth quarter, but could not slice the deficit enough as Korea’s shooting was just too hot.

The winning squad dished out 22 assists to the Philippines’ eight, while also recording 13 steals to their opponent’s seven.

Leeseul Kang chipped in 12 markers, while Yeeun Heo added nine for Korea.

Sumayah Sugapong powered the Philippines with 16 points. Jack Animam backstopped with 14 points and 13 rebounds, but she struggled at the free throw line with a 2-of-10 clip.

Gilas is now holding a 1-2 win-loss record in the tourney.