By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
No words can describe what the Gilas women national hoops squad achieved during the recently concluded 2023 FIBA Asia Cup.
After 39 years of heartbreak, the prized Filipina hoopers finally made their best finish in the prestigious basketball tournament, ending their campaign with a sixth-place finish last July 1, 2023, held at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre in Australia.
Despite falling at the hands of powerhouse nation Korea 80-71, the Filipinas still got the respect they deserved after putting up a decent fight.
Gilas was caught up in a 19-point hole when Korea’s shooters started to snowball their way offensively but after they regained their composure in the second half, the Filipinas came back and trimmed their deficit to just five points, 76-71, with still three minutes remaining in the game.
Vanessa De Jesus was still unstoppable and carried Gilas in the end game but Korea’s timely counters helped them protect their lead in the last two minutes of the game.
Gilas still had the chance to inch closer but the brave Filipina hoopers lost gas and started to miss baskets in the most important final stretch of the match.
It was a rough start for the Gilas after kicking off their campaign with a 0-2 win-loss record but bounced back strong after taking down Chinese-Taipei to advance to the play-in tournament.
The Filipina stalwarts were locked in from the get-go and were eager to end their losing streak against Chinese-Taipei, torching them during their Division A matchup, 92-81.
During the past years, the Gilas women’s squad always received a relegation match stage after losing most of their games in the preliminary round of the global hoops event.
It was a high-octane offensive exchange in the first half as Chinese-Taipei was able to get the better of the Filipinas when they picked them apart with their crisp ball movement.
Gilas was then quick to react to Chinese-Taipei’s brand of offense and started to deploy a hounding full-court defensive pressure that changed the complexion of the entire game.
After the Filipinas piled up the steals in the last two minutes of the ball game, Gilas suddenly flipped the switch and retook the lead.
Chinese-Taipei never got ahead again in the next three quarters but provided several scary scenarios when they struck back again and again with their three-point shooting.
Just when Gilas needed that perfect ball-handler to ice the game, De Jesus once again stepped up in the clutch and single-handedly closed out the win after converting three-straight cold-blooded baskets in the last 1:50 of the intense see-saw affair.
