NATIONAL coach Pat Aquino announced yesterday that center Jack Animam and Fil-Am Mai-Loni Henson will reinforce the Gilas Pilipinas women’s basketball squad that will see action in the FIBA Women’s World Cup pre-qualifying tournament and possibly the 31st Vietnam Southeast Asian Game next year.
“Jack is coming back for us next year. She is big and this is big,” Aquino said during the Philippine Sportswriters Association online forum while still in quarantine after the team’s stint in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in Amman, Jordan.
Joining Aquino in the program supported by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., San Miguel, Smart, Milo, Amelie Hotel and Braska Restaurant were national team veteran Janine Pontejos and Fil-Canadian rookie Camille Clarin.
Animan played a huge role in the national team’s first gold medal triumph in women’s basketball in the SEA Games two years ago, completing a three-game sweep of the four-team tournament capped by a 91-71 conquest of perennial rival Thailand.
A former National University Lady Bulldog standout, the 6-foot-1 player was unable to suit up for the nationals in Jordan due to her commitments to her Serbian club that signed her up last August.
Also standing 6-foot-1, Henson played four seasons with the University of Washington Huskies in the US NCAA Division 1 and recently suited up with the Al Aplemont club in France’s women’s pro league.
Aquino said both cagers will he welcome additions to the national team that lacked height, heft, and sufficient time for training before it plunged into action in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, dropping its three matches in Group B by massive margins.
“Those three losses were devastating,” Aquino of the campaign that began with a 43-152 lacing at the hands of China, followed by lopsided defeats at the hands of Australia (56-120) and Chinese-Taipeh (52-93).
“Even I did not know what to do after those losses but my girls showed a lot of character in the end,” Aquino said as the team displayed grit to score a close 74-70 decision over India in its last game in the classification round to remain in the FIBA Asia women’s first division.
“The tournament was a good experience for me and while we had to make some adjustments because of the fast pace we learned a lot from the tournament,” Clarin, one of five NU Lady Bulldogs in the team, said.
With the support of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, Aquinio expressed hope his charges would make their debut in the 19th Asian Games set Sept. 10 to 25, 2022 in Hangzhou, China after retaining their Division 1 standing in Asia and clinching the 30th SEA Games women’s basketball championship in 2019.
