KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- (UPDATED) The Philippines' hopes of earning a breakthrough gold medal in women's basketball took a big blow on Monday evening, at the hands of a familiar foe.

Perlas Pilipinas succumbed to a hot-shooting Indonesian team, 78-68, at the MABA Stadium to lose in their second game of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.

The heartbreaking loss came just a day after they opened their campaign with a huge 88-54 win over Singapore.

This marks the second straight SEA Games that Indonesia has dealt the Philippine team a crucial blow. Two years ago in Singapore, Perlas' 56-61 setback to Indonesia spelled the end of their drive for gold.

A brutal third quarter doomed the Filipinas this time around. After leading by as much as 12 points, 26-14, in the first half, they were unable to break Indonesia's zone in the third frame.

To make matters worse for Perlas, they went cold from the field in the third quarter as well, with even close-range buckets trickling out of the bucket.

It was Indonesia's Christaline Nathasa Debby who made life difficult for Perlas in the third, as she caught fire from beyond the arc. Together with Yuni Anggraeni, she helped Indonesia seize the lead with a 9-0 run to open the third frame.

Nathasa wound up making three of Indonesia's five triples in the fourth period. Regita Pramesti joined the party late, knocking down an outside shot with 15 seconds left for a 59-50 lead heading into the final frame.

Indonesia's lead ballooned to 14 points in the final frame, 66-52, and though the Filipinas tried to rally back -- mostly through Allana Lim and Camille Sambile -- they were unable to find their shooting touch in time to salvage the victory.

Perlas dropped to 1-1 in the tournament with the result, while Indonesia improved to 2-0. As it stands, the Filipinas do not full ycontrol of their destiny in the tournament.

What makes the loss all the more painful is that Perlas was well in control of the game in the first half. With Lim and Bernardino both making plays, they led by double digits and still had a 41-34 edge at the half.

Everything fell apart in the third period, however, with the three-point shooting that served Perlas well last night against Singapore abandoning them against Indonesia.

Lim topscored for the Philippines with 15 points, while Sambile added 14 markers. Janine Pontejos had 10 points, but made only one of her 14 attempts from beyond the arc.

As a team, Perlas shot 36% from the field, including only 3-of-23 from three-point land.

Nathasa led Indonesia with 25 points on an efficient 8-of-13 clip. They shot 44% from the field, including 9-of-22 from beyond the arc.

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