Gilas Pilipinas Women 3×3 finished seventh in the Jakarta Stop of the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series after a hard-fought 18-15 loss to world No. 16 Japan in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon.
The seventh-place finish ties the Philippines’ best showing on the tour so far, having also placed seventh in the Marseille Stop.
With five legs remaining, Gilas Women currently sits ninth in the overall standings with 173 tour points — 10 ahead of Latvia, 18 ahead of China, and 31 ahead of Singapore.
The top 12 teams in the global standings will qualify for the Final in Shanghai.
However, Gilas will skip the next three legs in Sumgait (July 26–27), Edmonton (August 1–2), and Bordeaux (August 20–21).
The team is scheduled to return to action on August 23–24 in Sabail, the penultimate stop of the tour.
Despite the loss to Japan, Gilas showcased their ability to compete with one of the top-ranked teams in the world.
Down 12-10, Japan’s Miku Takahashi and Aoi Katsura hit back-to-back two-pointers to extend their lead to 16-11. Alexis Pana responded with a scoring burst, trimming the deficit to just one point.
However, clutch free throws from Katsura in the closing seconds sealed the victory for Japan and a place in the semifinals.
Pana led the Philippines with six points, while Tantoy Ferrer and Mikka Cacho chipped in five and three points, respectively.
Katsura and Aya Tsurumi paced Japan with seven and six points, respectively, with Tsurumi also hauling down 14 rebounds.
In pool play, Gilas suffered a 20-11 defeat to Australia before bouncing back with a dominant 21-8 win over Jakarta.
Kaye Pingol led the way against the Aussies with four points and four rebounds, while Cacho exploded for 11 points in their victory over the host team.
