The Philippine women's national basketball team could not hold on to their early lead against Senegal in the FIBA Women's World Cup 2026 Pre-Qualifying Tournament.
Gilas Pilipinas Women bow out of the FIBA Women's World Cup 2026 Pre-Qualifying Tournament after absorbing a 25-point loss to undefeated Senegal, 87-62.
The world no. 40 Philippines had a promising start in Group C, taking a narrow loss to no. 8 Brazil before being pummeled by the taller world no. 16 Hungary and world no. 25 Senegal.
The Gilas Pilipinas Women actually started out strong, leading by 11 points at 13-2 in the early part of the first quarter. But Senegal gained the lead before the end of the frame and kept the gap by as much as 11 points.
Three Filipinas were in double-digits: Jack Animam had 15 from six of eight field goal shooting along with six rebounds, 18-year-old Naomi Panganiban had 14, while Janine Pontejos contributed 12.
It was not enough though to contain Senegal, led by Ndioma Kane who made 21 points.
As with the game against Hungary, the Filipinas were outmatched in the paint. The Africans had the egdge in rebounds, 70-31. They also moved the ball better with 24 dimes compared to the Philippines' 12.
That led to a 27-11 differential in second chance points and a 52-26 difference when it came to points in the paint.
The Filipinas though can take pride in their quickness, nabbing 13 steals vs the Senegalese's four. The Philippines is actually second in the Rwanda tournament in steals with nine nabs per game compared to Senegal's average of 13.
Gilas Pilipinas Women may be eliminated from the tournament, missing a shot at the World Cup. But there's plenty of lessons to take home in their first venture outside FIBA Asia.
[NEXT: 'We deserve to be here': Ella Fajardo makes passionate argument for Gilas Pilipinas Women in FIBA Women's World Cup Pre-Qualifiers]