ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Gilas Women fall to Kiwis, finish sixth in Asia Cup

Gilas Women fall to Kiwis, finish sixth in Asia Cup

Published Jul 19, 2025 04:22 pm

At A Glance

  • Gilas Pilipinas put up a gallant stand before ultimately bowing to New Zealand, 78-71, to finish sixth place in the 2025 FIBA Women's Asia Cup at the Shenzhen Sports Center in China on Saturday, July 19.
Jack Animam. (FIBA)
Jack Animam. (FIBA)
Gilas Pilipinas put up a gallant stand before ultimately bowing to New Zealand, 78-71, to finish sixth place in the 2025 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup at the Shenzhen Sports Center in China on Saturday, July 19.
The Nationals rose to the occasion with a 12-6 blitz to seize a 56-53 advantage entering the fourth quarter, and even led by as many as six, 63-57, before the Kiwis regained control of the contest.
Esra McGoldrick, Emilia Shearer and McKenna Dale spearheaded that 15-5 run to turn that deficit into a game win.
With the loss, the Philippines matched its sixth-place finish from the 2023 edition in Australia. New Zealand, meanwhile, claimed fifth place—a step down from their previous fourth-place finish.
“We’re a really young team. Like Coach Pat said, a lot of us are playing together for the first time, and I think we did a good job coming out there and playing as Filipinas,” said guard Vanessa De Jesus.
“I’m really proud of our group and excited to see where the future leads. This is a learning moment for us to get better and prepare for the next time.”
De Jesus led the charge with 16 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Khate Castillo also stepped up, firing 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.
"A good leader for the young girls... she could probably bring this team to another level in the near future, and we’re just happy to have her—and all the girls—back for the next cycle," said head coach Pat Aquino of De Jesus.
Naomi Panganiban and Sumaya Sugapong chipped in 11 points each, while Jack Animam stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals, and four blocks in the losing effort.
McGoldrick led the Tall Ferns with 17 points, while Shearer and Dale added 16 and 11, respectively.
Despite missing the podium, Gilas Women secured a spot in the FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournaments with their sixth-place finish.
The Filipinas’ campaign was a mix of ups and downs. They opened with back-to-back losses to Australia (115–39) and Japan (85–82), then bounced back with a narrow 73–70 win over Lebanon to advance to the semifinals. However, they were overwhelmed by South Korea in the next round, 104–71.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.