The Gilas Pilipinas Women could not complete an emphatic comeback against world no. 9 Japan, dropping to 0-2 in Group B of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.
Gilas Pilipinas Women fell short of an epic comeback late after world no. 9 Japan sent the Philippines tumbling to another loss, 85-82, in the 2025 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup at the Shenzhen Sports Center in China on Monday.
A big improvement from their 76-point beatdown at the hands of the Australia Opals in their opening game, the Philippines went on a scorching 18-0 run in the final minutes of regulation to claw back from 22 points down.
With all momentum on Gilas’ side, national team veteran Jack Animam was sent to the line with 15 ticks left in the game with Japan only ahead by five, 83-78.
But an unfortunate split from the line kept it a two-possession lead for the Japanese, 79-83.
As time winded down, Gilas was forced to play the foul game and sent Monica Okoye to the line where she calmly sank two free throws to ice the game.
Her charities ended a 5-minute scoring drought for the Akatsuki Japan, who were without a field goal in the last 5:37 minutes of the ball game.
Vanessa de Jesus drilled a three-pointer to reach the final score in a narrow loss for Gilas Women.
Animam rebounded from her 2-point game against Australia with a double-double of 24 points and 14 rebounds in the losing effort to lead Gilas.
De Jesus and Naomi Panganiban ended up with 13 markers each, while Sumayah Sugapong had 12 points, two rebounds, two assists, and four steals to round up the top scorers for Gilas.
Maki Takada led Japan in the escape act with 20 points, built off of 7-of-10 shooting.
Gilas Women hope to keep themselves in the running for a quarterfinals spot — and qualification to the qualifying tournament of the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany — with a win against Lebanon when they meet on Wednesday, July 16.