Gilas women prove mettle with FIBA Asia Cup win over Chinese Taipei

MANILA, Philippines — Finally, the Gilas Pilipinas women have broken through among the region’s best in the 2023 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup after a historic 92-81 victory over Chinese Taipei in Sydney, Australia on Wednesday.

Behind huge performances by Gilas newcomer Vanessa de Jesus and veterans Jack Animam and Afril Bernardino, the Nationals are through to the next round with a chance to qualify for the semifinals, as they won their first-ever group phase game in the elite tournament.

Since the Philippines’ promotion to Division A, Gilas’ wins in the tournament came only from classification games where they avoided relegation to Division B in the last two editions of the tournament.

This time, though, things are different.

An emotional Animam underscored the sheer impact of this win.

“It was really special, you know, all the things we’ve been through, being here in FIBA Asia, people are, you know, people always have something to say," said Animam.

“But I think this is a testament, with this program, with everybody behind, especially the sacrifices that we players, you know the work that we put into, I don’t know, this win, it’s just like the icing of the cake," she added.

Even before the final buzzer, emotions were already pouring out of Animam and her teammates as the victory loomed.

After years of operating in the shadow of their more mainstream counterparts in the men’s team, the women are making their mark.

And for the past few years, it’s been getting harder and harder to ignore them.

“I think we played for ourselves knowing that, you know, we have a bigger responsibility and what this win means to the basketball community, women’s basketball community in the Philippines,” said the longtime Gilas stalwart.

With the monkey off their backs, there can only be better things to come.

“I think [as] Coach Pat [Aquino] said, hopefully this is not the last, but I think this is just the start of greater things for this program.” she said.

The Filipina cagers return to action on Friday, June 30, against the second-ranked team in Group A in a knockout match to qualify for the semifinals.