Gilas Women punch ticket to FIBA 3x3 World Cup after eight years

April 13 ------ The Gilas Pilipinas women’s team is marching to the FIBA 3x3 World Cup for the first time in eight years. The Nationals dominated host Singapore, 21-10 in their do-or-die match in the World Cup qualifiers at the OCBC Square.

Kacey Dela Rosa stood tall and singlehandedly outscored Singapore with 11 points while veteran Afril Bernardino put on the finishing touches from the foul line to make their return trip to the world meet set in Warsaw, Poland in June. Interestingly, Bernardino was also part of the team that last saw action in the 3x3 World Cup which the country hosted back in 2018. She was with Jack Animam, Janine Pontejos and Gemma Miranda. “I don’t feel old because of them. I can’t imagine that I’m still here playing with the young ballers in the Philippines,” said the 30-year-old Bernardino. “They’re giving me a chance to play with them, I feel young. I enjoyed playing and representing the Philippines. Proud that we got the slot in the FIBA World Cup this year.”

The win came on the heels of the Nationals' historic run in the Asia Cup where it won the silver for the first time in history. Gilas went off to a strong start and took an 11-5 lead. The Filipinas never looked back from there as they completed a repeat over Singapore which they also defeated 21-19 in the pool stage early in the day. That victory allowed Gilas to take the top seed in the pool despite a 13-16 loss to Brazil. Gilas lost to Lithuania 21-16, relegating the team to the sudden death duel against the host.

Source: mb.com.ph