There are many reasons to be excited about Gilas Pilipinas Women, which will compete in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Kigali, Rwanda, from August 19-25, 2024.
One of the biggest highlights, quite literally, is the twin tower combination of two of the best frontliners in Philippine women’s basketball: Jack Animam and Kaycey Dela Rosa.
Animam, standing at 6-foot-4, is coming off a 21-game stint with the Ringwood Hawks in Australia’s NBL1, where she averaged 13.1 points and 8.1 rebounds. Prior to that, she posted an impressive double-double of 11.4 points and 12 rebounds in 35 games for Wuhan Shengfan in the Chinese Basketball Association.
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Meanwhile, the 6-foot Dela Rosa was a dominant force for Ateneo de Manila University, averaging 19.57 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 2.64 blocks on her way to winning the UAAP MVP.
Since the exit of Clare Castro and Danica Jose from the national team, Patrick Aquino has had to rely on Animam as the squad’s only legitimate big.
Now, for the first time, Animam and Dela Rosa will be teaming up in a FIBA event, providing much-needed size and interior presence for the Gilas squad.
To free up the interior for Animam and Dela Rosa to operate, the team will need to make shots from outside.
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Aquino has at his disposal arguably the three best shooters to have ever donned a Gilas Women’s uniform: veterans Janine Pontejos and Khate Castillo, and former Gilas U18 sniper Kristan Yumul.
Yumul just completed her freshman year at Westmont College, which was recently granted full membership status by the US NCAA Division II.
Interestingly, five of the 11 players submitted by Aquino are aged 20 or below, signaling that while the team aims to win now, it is also building for the future.
Dela Rosa turned 20 last March, and Yumul just turned 19 two months ago. The roster also features three other Gilas youth standouts: 20-year-old Louna Ozar, 19-year-old Camille Nolasco of the University of the Philippines, and 18-year-old Naomi Panganiban, an incoming freshman for San Diego State University’s NCAA Division I program.
One constant for Gilas Women is the all-around brilliance of Afril Bernardino.
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The 28-year-old all-around winger will serve as the team’s main offensive weapon in Rwanda.
In the absence of Duke point guard Vanessa de Guzman, playmaking duties will be shared between Stefanie Berberabe, a three-time US NAIA First Team All-American who played for the NU Lady Bulldogs last season, and Ella Fajardo, a veteran internationalist at just 21 years old, set to play for the Iona University Gaels in the NCAA Division I this coming school year.
Despite a solid lineup, Gilas Women will face significant challenges, as they will be undersized and heavy underdogs in the pre-qualifiers.
In FIBA’s power rankings of the eight teams bracketed into two groups in Rwanda, the Philippines was ranked 6th, lower than the three other teams in Group D.
The Philippines, ranked 40th in the FIBA Women’s world rankings, will open their campaign on August 19 against world No. 8 Brazil.
Gilas Pilipinas could be catching Brazil at a favorable time, as the South American team is in transition with the absence or retirement of four key players.
However, Brazil remains dangerous, boasting seven players who stand 5-foot-11 and above.
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Brazil recently won the 2023 Pan American Games and the FIBA AmeriCup, where they defeated the United States. They will be relying on former University of Florida power forward Emanuely de Oliveira.
There will be no rest for the weary, as Gilas Women will take on world No. 16 Hungary the very next day.
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Hungary is bringing back eight players from the squad that finished 4th in the 2023 Eurobasket. Only two players on their team stand below 5-foot-10, and the towering presence of 6-foot-10 Bernadett Határ, who previously played in the WNBA for the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun, will be a significant challenge. Határ is the third tallest player to ever compete in the WNBA.
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Gilas Women will wrap up the preliminary round on August 22 against world No. 22 Senegal, the 2023 AfroBasket runners-up.
Senegal could be the surprise package of the tournament, with eight of their players having played college ball in the US NCAA, and more than half of the squad currently playing professionally across Europe.
The team will be led by 5-foot-9 guard Cierra Janay Dillard, who averaged 20.7 points and 5.5 assists during the AfroBasket.
Former captain Aya Traoré is no longer with the team, but 6-foot-3 forward Ndioma Kane will be a key player to watch, having averaged 13.5 points the last time she suited up for Senegal. Five players in the Senegalese squad stand 6-foot-3 or above.
To compete against these taller and more experienced teams, Gilas Women will need to speed up the game and offset the considerable height disadvantage they face.
Aquino will also have to manage his thin frontline rotation of Animam, Dela Rosa, and the 5-foot-8 Ozar, ensuring they avoid foul trouble while still playing tough interior defense. Berberabe and Fajardo will be tasked with controlling the tempo of the game, preventing opposing teams from dictating the pace.
Meanwhile, the scoring trio of Pontejos, Castillo, and Yumul will need to connect from deep to give the nationals a fair chance at victory.
The Philippines showed in the 2023 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup that they could be competitive even outside of Southeast Asia.
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After losing their first two games to eventual podium finishers Australia and Japan, Gilas Women bounced back with a 92-81 win over Chinese Taipei. They fell in a close game to world No. 26 New Zealand in the quarterfinals, 78-83, before bowing out of the tournament but keeping pace with world No. 13 South Korea, 71-80.
Only the top two teams from Group D will advance to the crossover semifinals against the top two teams from Group C, which includes Argentina, Great Britain, Lebanon, and host Rwanda. The winner of the pre-qualifying tournament will earn a ticket to the World Cup Qualifying Tournament proper.
