August 31, 2025

Vanessa de Jesus proud of Gilas Women’s ‘Puso’ in gutsy Asia Cup win over Lebanon

Vanessa de Jesus proud of Gilas Women’s ‘Puso’ in gutsy Asia Cup win over Lebanon
Vanessa de Jesus beamed with pride at the team’s show of perseverance in the win over Lebanon. | Photo: FIBA

The Gilas Pilipinas Women’s team left it all out on the court as they hung on for a narrow 73-70 win over Lebanon in the 2025 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup at the Shenzhen Sports Center on Wednesday.

After contrasting but equally heartbreaking losses against Top 10 teams Australia and Japan in their first two games, the Philippines finally barged into the win column at the most opportune time — bagging them a slot in the playoffs and more importantly, the qualifying tournament of the FIBA Women’s World Cup.

[READ: Gilas Women book ticket to FIBA Women’s World Cup qualifiers]

For Gilas Pilipinas Women guard Vanessa de Jesus, it was more about how the team held their ground during the game than the Xs and Os that led to the result.

An iconic battle cry time and time again for Gilas, de Jesus said it was “puso” that brought them here.

“I think this is a really good game for us. It’s a huge team effort, I’m just proud of everyone from the bench to the starters, everybody,” said de Jesus after the game. 

“I think, at the end of the day, we just really showed our puso and that no matter what, if we play together, we continue to fight no matter what the score, we can beat anybody, we can compete with anybody,” she added.

Having been in almost an identical situation before with Gilas in 2023, de Jesus knows that there are bigger things in store for the team, especially with their spot in Division A already secured ahead of the Philippines’ hosting of the biennial tournament in 2027.

Expected to go up against a better team in the qualification match to the semifinals, de Jesus said they’ll need to focus on themselves to hopefully take it another notch in China.

 

That is, no matter who they’re facing, de Jesus just wants Gilas Women to bring their best.

“I think for us, it’s just playing as Gilas and playing as Pilipinas team. We don’t know who we’re gonna play but at the end of the day, I think, our game style, the way we prep for games, the players we have, the talent we have, and the way we work together, I think if we just buy into that and just focus on ourselves and play as ourselves, again, I think that’ll help us at the end of the day,” said the Notre Dame player. 

“I think that’s our focus, just work on ourselves and just get ready for the next one.”

De Jesus and Gilas return to action against a to-be-determined foe for a chance to barge into the semis on Friday, July 18.

They will face the second placer in Group A.

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