The Philippines started out slow but made the necessary adjustments in the game in cruising to an 82-46 rout of Indonesia to formally clinch a finals seat in the 7th SEABA Women Championship on Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

RP team coach Haydee Ong opted to give her reserves some playing time that allowed the Indons to take a 13-9 lead on a jumper by Yulinda Wati midway in the opening period.

But the visiting squad’s ju*****ion was short lived as Aurora Adriano fired four points in a closing 8-0 spurt as the host’s ended the first quarter with 17-13 lead and never looked back.

Diana Jose, Angeli Gloriani, Chovi Borja and Merenciana Arayi alternated in lighting up the scoreboard as the locals slowly pulled away.

Jose had 15 points while Borja added 14 markers. Adriano, Gloriani and Arayi finished with 11, 11, and 10 points each.

The Philippines posted a 53-27 edge in rebounds with Fatima Tolentino grabbing 14. They also had 17 steals thanks to their full-court trapping defense that also resulted in 22 turnovers by Indonesia

“I decided to give our starters a rest for this game and expose other players for them to gain the needed confidence heading into our big game with Thailand," said Ong, who steered the Nationals to their third straight win.

The hosts close out their elimination round campaign against defending champion Thailand, which also remain undefeated in three games after an 83-47 demolition of Singapore in the other match.

The RP-Thailand elimination round game will be played on Thursday at 4 p.m. Both teams will again meet on Friday for the title match.

“This match will be like a chess game were we will try to test them (Thailand) and whatever we will learn from this game, we’ll try to make the needed adjustment for the big game on Friday," said Ong.

“We have to double our effort defensively because the Thais are a complete team. I know both teams will not be showing up their A-Game but whatever we will learn will be put to good use for the finals." – JVP, GMANews.TV

The Scores:

Philippines 82 - Jose 15, Borja 13,Gloriani 11, Adriano 11, Arayi 10, Tolentino 8, Mercado 7, Tioseco 4, Grajales 3, Valencia 0, Jacob 0, Pineda 0.

Indonesia 46 - Wati 14, Ayuningrum 10, Marina 7, Siswari 6, Adhipuspitasari 5, Ramadhani 2, Christaline 2, Kanesai 0, Handayani 0.