Philippines women's national basketball team

For the men's team, see Philippines men's national basketball team.

Philippines

FIBA ranking	40 3 (February 15, 2024) [1]
Joined FIBA	1936
FIBA zone	FIBA Asia
National federation	SBP
Coach	Patrick Aquino
Nickname(s)	Gilas Pilipinas
Asia Cup
Appearances	17
Home Away

The Philippines women's national basketball team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).

Compared to the men's national team, the women's national team receives less reception from local basketball enthusiasts. Locally based players has no national league to play in after college which has a few leagues such as the WNCAA, Filoil Premier Cup, and Fr. Martin's Cup. The women's national team has been playing at Level II at the FIBA Asia Championship for Women for the past few editions of the tournament. Again in contrast of their men counterpart who were often describe as powerhouses in the Southeast Asia region, the women's national team has been behind Thailand and Malaysia in the past few years. ^[2]

History

Early history

Filipino women in Dagupan playing basketball as depicted in a 1910 postcard.

Women's basketball in the Philippines dates back as early as the 1910s. Basketball was first introduced to the Philippine public school system by the Americans as a women's sort in 1910 and was played in Interscholastic meets in 1911 until 1913. The sport used by Americans to promote good health and motherhood and citizenry grew in popularity among women. Women's basketball met opposition from conservative groups, particularly the Catholic Church who view bloomers worn by women basketball players as inappropriate. By the time skirts were allowed to be worn above bloomers as a compromise, women's basketball is already in the decline and is only played in provincial and local interscholastic meets. Indoor softball and as well as volleyball became the more preferred sport for Filipino women. ^[3]

SBP era (2007–present)

Perlas Pilipinas 1.0 (2007–2015)

On 2007, Discovery Suites, a hotel brand, became the main sponsor of the women's national team. ^[4] On 2008, Haydee Ong was appointed as head coach of the women's national team ^[5] replacing Matthew "Fritz" Gaston, who guided the team to a bronze medal finish at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand and a silver medal finish at the 2007 SEABA Championship for Women. ^[6] Under Ong, the team won the gold medal at the 2010 SEABA Championship for Women, the country's first medal at the said tournament. The team previously won silver during the 1995, 1997, and 2007 editions of the tournament.

The team pushed for the naturalization of 6'3" tall Chinese, Zheng Xiaojing, a move parallel to the naturalization of American-born Marcus Douthit for the men's national team. Zheng's naturalization process started with the filing of House Bill 02683 by Congressman Roberto Puno of Antipolo in August, about the same time as Douthit's. Head coach Ong lobbied the SBP and the Philippine Congress to hasten the naturalization process of Zheng so that she can join the national team for the 2011 editions of the FIBA Asia Championship and the Southeast Asian Games ^[7] While Douthit was eventually naturalized, Zheng's naturalization was in limbo. In August 2014, team manager, Cynthia Tiu said that the team will focus on developing homegrown players than resort to naturalizing players. Tiu said that Zheng was disappointed but also said that a re-filing of her petition for naturalization cannot be done since Zheng is already married. ^[8]

Perlas Pilipinas 2.0 (2015–2019)

The SBP appointed Patrick Aquino as the new head coach of the national team. His first task will be to guide the national team at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games. Ever Bilena Cosmetics, Inc. has been made the new sponsor of the national team. ^{[9] [10]} SBP executive director Sonny Barrios pointed out the decision to make changes in the coaching staff of the women's team was made after discussions among members of the search and screening committee, which is composed of several basketball stakeholders. ^[11]

In a historic run, Perlas officially promoted in the Level 1 of the FIBA Asia Women's Championships that will held in 2017, after the win against India, 82–76. ^[12]

Gilas Pilipinas Women (2019–present)

In May 2019, the SBP announced that the Gilas Pilipinas name would be used across all its sporting programs for the men's, men's youth (men's under-19 and men's under-17), men's 3x3 and women's teams. ^{[13] [14]} Aquino assumed responsibility over the Gilas Pilipinas Women program.

Gilas Women attained their best finish at the FIBA Women's Asia Cup in the 2023 edition. They avoided the relegation playoff for the very first time by at least one group stage game at the expense of Chinese Taipei – also their first group stage win since their promotion to the first division in 2015. ^{[15] [16]} They finished sixth overall in a tournament of eight teams. ^[17]

In August 2024, they would take part in the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Rwanda, their first ever non-FIBA Asia competition. ^{[18] [19]}

Fixtures and results

Main article: Philippines women's national basketball team results

2024 results

Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Venue	Competition
6 July	Chinese Taipei White	L	60–73	Xinzhuang Gymnasium, New Taipei City, Taiwan	2024 William Jones Cup
7 July	Malaysia	W	74–63	Xinzhuang Gymnasium, New Taipei City, Taiwan	2024 William Jones Cup
8 July	Japan Universiade	L	83–85	Xinzhuang Gymnasium, New Taipei City, Taiwan	2024 William Jones Cup
9 July	Thailand	W	68–58	Xinzhuang Gymnasium, New Taipei City, Taiwan	2024 William Jones Cup
10 July	Chinese Taipei Blue	L	66–82	Xinzhuang Gymnasium, New Taipei City, Taiwan	2024 William Jones Cup
19 August	Brazil	L	74–77	BK Arena, Kigali, Rwanda	2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Pre-Qualifying Tournament
20 August	Hungary	L	60–97	BK Arena, Kigali, Rwanda	2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Pre-Qualifying Tournament
22 August	Senegal	L	62–87	BK Arena, Kigali, Rwanda	2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Pre-Qualifying Tournament

Medal count

Event	Editions	1st edition	Total	Notes
							Tot.
FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0
Olympic Games	0	0	0	0	0	0
FIBA Women's Asia Cup	16	1965	0	0	0	0
Asian Games	2	1998	0	0	0	0
SEABA Championship for Women	7	1995	2	2	2	6
Southeast Asian Games	18	1981	2	7	5	14

Competitions

World Cup

The Philippines' FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Record
Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1953	did not participate
1957
1959
1964
1967	did not qualify
1971	did not participate
1975
1979	did not qualify
1983
1986	did not participate
1990
1994	did not qualify
1998	did not participate
2002
2006	Suspended
2010	did not qualify
2014
2018
2022
2026	to be determined
Total		0	0	0

Olympic Games

The Philippines' Olympic Games Record
Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1976	did not participate
1980	Boycotted
1984	did not qualify
1988	did not participate
1992
1996	did not qualify
2000	did not participate
2004	did not qualify
2008	did not participate
2012
2016	did not qualify
2020
2024
2028	To be determined
2032
Total		0	0	0

Asia Cup

The Philippines' Asian Cup Record
Year	Division A				Division B
Year	Position	Pld	W	L	Position	Pld	w	l
1965	4th place	8	2	6	No Division B / Level II
1968	6th place	7	2	5
1970	did not participate
1972
1974
1976	6th place	6	1	5
1978	8th place	8	2	6
1980	did not participate
1982	8th place	4	1	3
1984	4th place	8	4	4
1986	did not participate
1988
1990					did not participate
1992					No Division B / Level II
1994	10th place	Level II			5th place	5	2	3
1995	9th place				3rd place	5	3	2
1997	did not participate				did not participate
1999
2001
2004	8th place	Level II			3rd place	3	1	2
2005	11th place				6th place	5	1	4
2007	did not participate				did not participate
2009	10th place	Level II			4th place	5	3	2
2011	did not participate				did not participate
2013	10th place	Level II			4th place	5	3	2
2015	7th place				1st place	6	5	1
2017	7th place	6	1	5	Division A
2019	7th place	4	1	3
2021	7th place	4	1	3
2023	6th place	5	1	4
2025	Qualified
Total		60	16	44		34	18	16

Asian Games

The Philippines' Asian Games Record
Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1974	did not participate
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998	6th place	3	0	3
2002	did not participate
2006	Suspended
2010	did not participate
2014
2018 [20]
2022	5th place	4	2	2
2026	To be determined
Total		7	2	5

SEABA Championship

The Philippines' Southeast Asian Championship Record
Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1995	2nd place
1997	2nd place
1999	3rd place
2002	3rd place
2004	did not participate
2007	2nd place	6	5	1
2010	1st place	5	5	0
2014	did not participate
2016	1st place	6	6	0
Total	2 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze	16–1 (incomplete)

Southeast Asian Games

The Philippines' Southeast Asian Games Record
Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1977	did not enter
1979	did not enter
1981	2nd place	5	3	2
1983	2nd place	4	3	1
1985	2nd place	3	2	1
1987	3rd place	5	3	2
1989	4th place	4	1	3
1991	4th place	6	3	3
1993	5th place	4	0	4
1995	2nd place	6	4	2
1997	4th place	5	2	3
1999	Not held
2001	3rd place	4	2	2
2003	3rd place	5	3	2
2005	Suspended
2007	3rd place	3	1	2
2009	Not held
2011	2nd place	4	3	1
2013	2nd place	4	3	1
2015	4th place	5	3	2
2017	4th place	6	4	2
2019	1st place	3	3	0
2021	1st place	5	4	1
2023	2nd place	6	5	1
Total	2 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze	87	52	35

Other tournaments

The Philippines' Other tournaments Record
Year	Position	Pld	W	L
2011 Discovery Women's Basketball Invitational	1st	4	4	0
2013 Discovery Women's Basketball Invitational	1st	4	4	0
2015 Discovery Women's Basketball Invitational	1st	4	4	0
2019 William Jones Cup	6th place [21]	5	0	5
2023 William Jones Cup	5th place	5	1	4
2024 William Jones Cup	4th place	5	2	3

Team

Current roster

Philippines roster at the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Pre-Qualifying Tournament – Rwanda. ^{[22] [23]}

Philippines women's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G 0 Khate Castillo 27 – (1996-10-05)October 5, 1996 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in) G 2 Naomi Panganiban 18 – (2006-06-05)June 5, 2006 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) San Diego State Aztecs F 3 Afril Bernardino 28 – (1996-04-03)April 3, 1996 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) G 4 Camille Nolasco 19 – (2005-02-26)February 26, 2005 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) UP Lady Maroons G 5 Ella Fajardo 21 – (2003-03-15)March 15, 2003 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) G 7 Janine Pontejos 31 – (1992-10-29)October 29, 1992 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) G 9 Louna Ozar 20 – (2004-05-09)May 9, 2004 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) UP Lady Maroons C 10 Jack Animam 25 – (1998-11-27)November 27, 1998 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Ringwood Hawks G 11 Stefanie Berberabe 24 – (2000-07-13)July 13, 2000 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) NU Bulldogs C 19 Kacey Dela Rosa 20 – (2004-03-01)March 1, 2004 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Ateneo Blue Eagles G 24 Kristan Yumul 19 – (2005-06-24)June 24, 2005 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) Westmont Warriors	Head coach Patrick Aquino Assistant coach(es) Jose Ramon Garcia Julie Amos Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age describes age on 26 June 2023

Past rosters

• Note: Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games, Asian Championships only.

Coaches

• Ricardo Roces ^[26] (c. 1997)
• Fritz Gaston (2003–2007)
• Haydee Ong (2008–2014)
• Patrick Aquino (2015–present)

References

1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. February 15, 2024. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
2. Verora, Levi (March 25, 2014). "Only for men? When will women's hoops ring the bell in PH?". Rappler. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
3. Antolihao, Lou (2015). "Spheroid of Influence: Sports, Colonization, Modernity – Ballers in Bloomers:Sports, Gender, Participation". Playing with the Big Boys: Basketball, American Imperialism, and Subaltern Discourse in the Philippines (Illustrated ed.). University of Nebraska Pres. ISBN   978-0803278516 . Retrieved September 26, 2017.
4. De Leon, Job (April 11, 2014). "A league of their own: Discovery-Perlas and women's basketball in the Philippines". GMA News. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
5. Velasco, Bill (March 3, 2008). "No longer the poor sisters". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
6. Olivares, Rick (February 12, 2017). "SBP at 10". Bleacher's Brew. BusinessMirror. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
7. Leyba, Olmin (April 21, 2011). "Women's cage team pushes for own naturalized player". The Philippine Star. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
8. Ramos, Josef (August 14, 2013). "Women's basketball coach prefers homegrown talent to naturalized players". The Manila Times. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
9. Terrado, Reuben (January 22, 2015). "NU coach Patrick Aquino to call shots for PH women's basketball team in SEA Games". Sport Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
10. Terrado, Reuben (February 12, 2015). "Perlas Pilipinas manager cries foul over SBP decision to disband national women's cage team, call for new tryouts". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
11. Terrado, Reuben (February 14, 2015). "SBP's Barrios says revamp of women's cage program, Perlas disbandment went through proper process". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
12. Terrado, Reuben; Ramos, Gerry (September 7, 2015). "Perlas Pilipinas finds SEA Games letdown a major motivation for Fiba-Asia success". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
13. Leyba, Olmin (May 9, 2019). "It's all Gilas Pilipinas for SBP programs". The Philippine Star. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
14. "SBP restructures, unveils new Gilas Pilipinas logo". ESPN5. May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
15. Dalupang, Denison Rey A. (July 1, 2023). "Pat Aquino sees big impact of Fiba Asia feat on Gilas Women program". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
16. "Gilas Women avoid relegation after breakthrough win vs. Chinese Taipei in FIBA Asia Cup". CNN Philippines. June 28, 2023. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
17. "Gilas Women finish sixth overall in FIBA Asia Cup". GMA News. July 1, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
18. Villanueva, Ralph Edwin (August 22, 2024). "Gilas women fall to Senegalese, end bid in FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers". The Philippine Star. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
19. "Gilas Women set to compete outside FIBA Asia borders for first time in history". The Manila Times. August 19, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
20. Ventura, Sid (June 7, 2018). "Patrick Aquino wants his women's team to show their worth in FIBA 3x3 World Cup". ESPN. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
21. Li, Matthew (April 30, 2019). "Patrick Aquino faces good problem as Perlas Pilipinas has stacked pool". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
22. Terrado, Reuben (August 16, 2024). "Gilas Women Rwanda-bound to compete in World Cup pre-qualifiers". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
23. "Philippines - Roster". FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Pre-Qualifying Tournament Kigali, Rwanda. FIBA. August 18, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
24. 2013 squad
25. |tab=roster Team Philippines – 2015 FIBA Asia Women's Championship
26. Mallari, Riera (August 15, 1997). "Victory in defeat for RP cagebelles". E & S Philippine Journal. 1 (XXII): 4.

External links

• Official website
• FIBA Profile