Gilas Women's FIBA Asia Cup stint 'a big leap for us', says coach Pat Aquino

Gilas Pilipinas Women may have fallen just short of a semifinals slot in the 2023 FIBA Women's Asia Cup, but head coach Patrick Aquino believes their valiant showing in their campaign was proof that they belong on this stage.

The multi-titled tactician said the goal heading into the tournament was to be competitive on this level. And given the results achieved by the Filipinas so far, Aquino said they are on the right track.

"It's a big leap for us, it's a giant step for us doing this and making us competitive and hopefully we could do better and prepare more," Aquino said on the heels of a close 83-78 loss to New Zealand on Friday.

"Our goal was to really compete and show that we belong. The win against Chinese Taipei is what we needed for that and with that win, the confidence is overflowing right now."

It has been a notable campaign for the Philippines in this Asia Cup. Though they had a tough start with blowout losses to Australia and Japan, they bounced back with a big 92-81 win against Chinese Taipei - the team's first in Division A of the competition since being promoted to this level in 2015.

The victory also allowed them to finish third in their group and punch a ticket to the semifinal qualification game.

The gallant Gilas squad then gave the Tall Ferns a huge scare before falling short in the end to bow out of contention and miss out on a place in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Still, they were able to show that they were here to compete.

"We felt we fell short. It was a good game for us, we competed, and we felt that really now, we can compete with the best of the best in Asia and hopefully, when we come back we'll be stronger," Aquino added.

"Probably the composure was getting low at the time and I think we made some crucial errors at the end."

Gilas will still see action in the battle for fifth place, but Aquino said what they had already achieved in the Asia Cup at this point is something to be proud of.

"I just wanna say that I'm proud of the girls. They did well," he said.

"I feel that with this performance, more kids back home will be following us and would be aiming to be one of the Gilas Women."

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News