At A Glance
- The Gilas Pilipinas women's team hopes to break the losing spell when it shoots for its first win against Lebanon in the 2025 FIBA Women's Asia Cup at the Shenzhen Sports Center in China Wednesday, July 16.
(FIBA)
The Gilas Pilipinas women's team hopes to break the losing spell when it shoots for its first win against Lebanon in the 2025 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup at the Shenzhen Sports Center in China Wednesday, July 16.
Aiming to secure a Top 6 finish to earn a spot in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, the Filipina dribblers must prevail over the Lebanese in their 1:30 p.m. showdown to strengthen their chances of advancing to the next phase.
The winner could put itself next to Australia and Japan in Group B, with the top finisher claiming an outright semifinal berth and the second and third placers battling it out for the other final four slot.
Gilas also needs to perform well to keep its place in Division A as the eighth-place squad will be relegated to Division B in the 2027 edition of the tournament.
After absorbing a 115-39 beatdown from world No. 2 Australia, the Philippines came out huge in its following game against No. 9 Japan where it almost completed a huge comeback before giving up an 85-82 decision.
“A tough loss but a good bounce back from yesterday’s game (against Australia), I think the girls… they have the grit now, they’re playing together,” said Aquino during the post-game’s press conference.
“And hopefully, if we get one more game as good as this, we’ll be okay,” he added.
Jack Animam should continue her outstanding performance for the Nationals, especially after a double-double output in their game against Japan where she went toe-to-toe against veteran and 2020 Olympic silver medalist Maki Takada.
Naomi Panganiban, Sumayah Sugapong, and Vanessa De Jesus are expected to provide support.