By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
After years of heartbreak in the international basketball scene, the brave and young Gilas women hoopers finally scored a breakthrough win in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.
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, last June 28, 2023, held at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre.
This is Gilas’ first-ever win against Chinese-Taipei after three attempts and made their win sweeter after advancing to the play-in tournament of the FIBA stage.
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.
This time, head coach Patrick Aquino and the rest of the staff did a better job with their wards and have to be lauded after bringing in their biggest prospect, Vanessa De Jesus.
Despite being a first-timer donning the blue and the white PHL jersey, De Jesus never disappointed the Filipino fans and once again delivered for Gilas against Chinese-Taipei.
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.
De Jesus’ led Gilas with 25 big points while superstar center Jack Animam contributed a dominant 16-point outing alongside 15 rebounds.
“It’s our first win in pool play. We are just so happy. It proved that we belong in the FIBA Asia Cup. I hope that this is not the last and we hope to continue winning,” said coach Aquino.
