Gilas Pilipinas Women relied on Vanessa de Jesus and Jack Animam to chalk up their first win in the 2025 William Jones Cup.
Gilas Pilipinas Women recovered from an opening debacle, whipping Thailand, 83-66, to log its first win in the 2025 William Jones Cup Thursday, July 3.
Thanks in large part to Vanessa de Jesus and Jack Animam, the Nationals bounced back after a 59-85 shellacking by host Chinese Taipei at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.
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New Notre Dame guard De Jesus finished with 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Animam also did the damage with 23 markers and 14 boards. She also had two steals for the Filipina dribblers, who used a strong third quarter assault to set the tone for the blowout.
Sumayah Sugapong added 11 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Louna Ozar and Ella Fajardo combined for 15 markers.
The Gilas Women did just enough to keep in pace with their Thai counterparts in the first 20 minutes of action.
But it was a different story in the third, where the Filipinas turned it up and torched their foes, 26-12.
Thailand simply had no answer to the assault and went on to drop its second straight game in the six-team tournament in Taiwan.
Gilas will next face South Korea on Friday, July 4. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. (Manila time).
The Philippine contingent is preparing for the FIBA Asia Cup later this month.