Gilas Women lose to Senegal, exit World Cup pre-qualifying tourney
At A Glance
- Gilas Pilipinas failed to make a winning exit in the FIBA Women's World Cup pre-qualifying tournament after absorbing an 87-62 defeat at the hands of world No. 25 Senegal on Thursday, Aug. 22, at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda.
Gilas Pilipinas failed to make a winning exit in the FIBA Women’s World Cup pre-qualifying tournament after absorbing an 87-62 defeat at the hands of world No. 25 Senegal on Thursday, Aug. 22, at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda.

The Filipinas just couldn’t sustain a hot start that saw them build an 11-point first quarter lead as their Senegalese counterparts imposed their height advantage to get back and blow the game wide open.
Already out of contention even before the start of the game and only looking to salvage some measure of pride in the tournament, the Nationals came out firing taking a 15-4 advantage early on but Senegal answered back with their own 13-0 run to take the driver's seat.
Riding the momentum of its run, the African team outscored the Filipinas, 23-12 and 19-11, in the middle quarters to establish a 21-point advantage heading into the final frame.
Jack Animam bounced back from a subpar performance in Gilas’ second game, finishing with 15 points to go along with six rebounds. Naomi Panganiban added 14 points while Janine Pontejos had her best game with 12 in a losing cause for the Filipinas.
Ndioma Kane was the biggest thorn to the side of Gilas, dropping 21 points while Fatou Pouye and Khadidiatou Sarr had 13 and 12 respectively.
Gilas ended 0-3 in the standings but its campaign was highlighted by a gallant stand against world No. 8 Brazil, only losing by just three points, 77-74.