SEREMBAN — Tiffany Reyes couldn’t feel any more blessed after making the first game-winner of her career that led to a win so important for the Philippines.
The 6-foot-1 guard knocked down a jumper from the perimeter at the buzzer to beat Korea with a 77-75 decision, giving the Gilas Girls its breakthrough victory in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2025 at the Karisma Arena here.
And to have done as much on the day she was celebrating her birthday makes it all the sweeter for the daughter of former PBA player Jay-R Reyes.
“It feels amazing to hit the game-winner on my birthday. It’s my first one, so it’s definitely gonna be very memorable,” Reyes told fiba.basketball.
Reyes finished with 16 points in the contest, half of which came in the fourth as she helped her side build a 69-60 lead before coming through with actually the first game-winning buzzer-beater of this year’s competitions.
In fact, she was also responsible for keeping the possession that eventually led to that shot, when she hauled down the missed free throw of teammate Ruiza Olmos with less than 10 seconds left.
But none of that would be possible without her teammates. Makeena Ramos, upon receiving Zia Onate’s inbound, consciously looked for Reyes before handing it off to the latter — and the rest, as they say, is history.
(C) FIBA.basketball
“A lot of things were going on my mind when Makenna handed it off to me,” said the second-generation hooper, who also had three rebounds and two blocks.
“All I could think of was, ‘Don’t mess up and just shoot it.'”
Thanks to her, the Philippines advanced to the Qualification to Semifinals this Friday, where the crew of Coach Julie Amos will take on China at 7:00 PM.
And Reyes will definitely be among those to watch out for, as she’s also emerged as one of the tournament’s better scorers with 10.3 points per game on a commendable 42.9-percent shooting from beyond the arc.
It no longer comes as a surprise, since she’s been one of Gilas Girls’ more experienced players owing to her past stints with the U18.
Reyes was part of the squad that ruled Division B of the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup last year, which brought the U18 program to Division A for 2026.
“Playing in the U18 last year gave me an experience that I can apply at the U16 level,” she said.
“I can share these experiences with my teammates, the strategies, and learnings in order for my team to succeed.”
She has indeed embraced that kind of role for the youth team, but the Sycamore High School standout remains a sponge that’s more than willing to grow.
“I’m just having fun and learning at the same time,” Reyes said.
“Because playing internationally is a big thing that not many people get to do, so I’m just taking it all in and creating memories with my teammates.”
