Gilas Pilipinas Women’s 3×3 made history for Philippine basketball, Friday afternoon.
The quartet of Afril Bernardino, Janine Pontejos, Jack Animam, and Clare Castro became the first women’s squad to advance to the knockout quarterfinals of the FIBA 3X3 Asia Cup.
This all became possible thanks to Japan.
After Gilas defeated Sri Lanka, 21-6, the Japanese – who defeated the Philippines to open action in Pool C 20-8 – booted out the Sri Lankans with a 22-11 rout.
However, if the young Filipinas look to continue their Cinderella run in the continental meet, they have to go through the Australia Opals.
Australia, the eighth seed in Pool A, swept their group. The Opals escaped neighbor and defending champion New Zealand, 17-15, before knocking off host China, 16-14.
Last year, Australia ended up winning bronze.
The win-or-go-home tilt – the seventh game in four days for the Patrick Aquino-mentored squad – will tip-off at 12:10 pm on Sunday.
