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Philippines women's national basketball team

Philippines Philippines
SBP-logo.png
FIBA ranking 49 Increase 9
Joined FIBA 1936
FIBA zone FIBA Asia
National federation Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas
Coach Philippines Patrick Aquino
Nickname(s) Perlas Pilipinas
Olympic Games
Appearances 0
Medals None
Women's World Cup
Appearances 0
Medals None
Asian Championships for Women
Appearances 12
Medals None
Uniforms
Kit body basketball Gilas'14a.png
Light jersey
Kit shorts basketball Gilas'14a.png
Team colours
Light
Kit body basketball Gilas'14b.png
Dark jersey
Kit shorts basketball Gilas'14b.png
Team colours
Dark

The women's national basketball team of the Philippines represents the country in women's FIBA tournaments.

Compared to the men's national team, the women's national team receives less reception from local basketball enthusiasts. Locally based player has no national league to play in after college which has a few leagues such as the WNCAA, Filoil Premier Cup, and Fr. Martin’s Cup. The women's national team has been playing at Level II at the FIBA Asia Championship for Women for the past few editions of the tournament. Again in contrast of their men counterpart who were often describe as powerhouses in the Southeast Asia region, the women's national team has been behind Thailand and Malaysia in the past few years.

On 2007, Discovery Suites, a hotel brand, became the main sponsor of the women's national team. On 2008, Haydee Ong was appointed as head coach of the women's national team replacing Matthew "Fritz" Gaston, who guided the team to a bronze medal finish at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand and a silver medal finish at the 2007 SEABA Championship for Women. Under Ong, the team won the gold medal at the 2010 SEABA Championship for Women, the country's first medal at the said tournament. The team previously won silver during the 1995, 1997, and 2007 editions of the tournament.

The team pushed for the naturalization of 6'3" tall Chinese, Zheng Xiaojing, a move parallel to the naturalization of American-born Marcus Douthit for the men's national team. Zheng's naturalization process started with the filing of House Bill 02683 by Congressman Roberto Puno of Antipolo in August, about the same time as Douthit's. Head coach Ong lobbied the SBP and the Philippine Congress to hasten the naturalization process of Zheng so that she can join the national team for the 2011 editions of the FIBA Asia Championship and the Southeast Asian Games While Douthit was eventually naturalized, Zheng's naturalization was in limbo. On August 2014, team manager, Cynthia Tiu said that the team will focus on developing homegrown players than resort to naturalizing players. Tiu said that Zheng was disappointed but also said that a re-filing of her petition for naturalization cannot be done since Zheng is already married.


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Wikipedia

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