Gone are the days when the Philippine national women’s basketball team would play like laid carpets to its crack, more superior opponents in the Asian region.
That’s all part of history.
Now, Gilas Pilipinas women’s team has earned the respect and admiration of powerhouse teams in the Asian region.
Since 2015, the cagebelles have already started to make strides.
They won the Southeast Asia Basketball Association championship and dethroned long-time nemesis Malaysia, before reaching another milestone when they moved up from Division B to Division A of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.
That was the beginning of their continued climb to the ladder of greatness and in the 30th Southeast Asian Games in 2019, they finally won their first ever gold medal in the biennial meet. Not just one, but two golds were captured by the national dribblers as they also ruled the inaugural staging of the 3×3 event.
Gilas belles retained the title in the SEA Games two years later and while they fell short of capturing their third straight gold medal, indications are clear that they are headed towards the right direction.
In the ongoing FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, the Filipinas not only retained their status of keeping their spot in the Division A composed of top tier teams, but they also made some headway, beating Chinese Taipei for the first time in a major international competition, and earning the respect of everyone when they pushed a crack, bigger and more experienced New Zealand team to the limit in the quarterfinal round.
Afril Bernardino has been a mainstay of Gilas Women since 2015 and doesn’t show signs of slowing down as she remains the team’s most consistent forward.
Chak Cabinbin has been the starting point guard for many years and continued to provide leadership on the court.
Jack Animam rose from being a reserve in 2015 to becoming the premier player up front. She has become the squad’s most highly-accomplished player after playing in the French League the past year with Toulouse Metropole Basket and the USO Mondeville Basket.
Janine Pontejos came to the program in 2017 and emerged as one of the team’s top guns. Then came the rising stars — from guards Ella Fajardo and Khate Castillo, forward Camille Clarin, front court players Angel Surada and Mika Cacho to new recruits Jhazmin Joson, Louna Ozar and naturalized player Vanessa de Jesus — who all made valuable contributions to the team.
And then, of course, there’s the man on the steering wheel, head coach Patrick Aquino, who was able to put together the pieces that made Philippine women’s basketball to catch the fancy of the basketball-crazy nation.
The journey never stops for the Gilas cagebelles as they try to continue building new great memories.
That inspiring performance in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup where they won the hearts of the Filipino fans gave them all the more reason to go on.
