The Philippines women's national basketball team (Filipino: Pambansang koponan ng basketbol ng kababaihan ng Pilipinas) is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).

The women's national team is starting to receive more attention from local basketball enthusiasts. The current roster consists of a mix of players from the UAAP, NCAA Philippines, the Women’s Maharlika Professional Basketball League, the Australian NBL, the US NCAA, and professional leagues in Europe and Asia. The women's national team has been playing in Division A of the FIBA Asia Championship for Women for the past few editions of the tournament and is the highest-ranked team in Southeast Asia.

History Early history

Women's basketball in the Philippines dates back as early as the 1910s. Basketball was first introduced to the Philippine public school system by the Americans as a women's sort in 1910 and was played in Interscholastic meets in 1911 until 1913. The sport used by Americans to promote good health and motherhood and citizenry grew in popularity among women. Women's basketball met opposition from conservative groups, particularly the Catholic Church who view bloomers worn by women basketball players as inappropriate. By the time skirts were allowed to be worn above bloomers as a compromise, women's basketball is already in the decline and is only played in provincial and local interscholastic meets. Indoor softball and as well as volleyball became the more preferred sport for Filipino women.

BAP era The women's national team was organized by the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP), which was the recognized national sports association for basketball in the Philippines.

The last national team under BAP before its suspension was the team mentored by head coach Raymond Celis who was preparing the Philippine women's national team for the 2005 SEA Games. The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) superseded the BAP in 2007.

SBP era (2007–present) Perlas Pilipinas 1.0 (2007–2015) 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.

However by February 2015, the team backed Discovery Suites was disbanded which the sponsor insisted was done without explanation.

Perlas Pilipinas 2.0 (2015–2019) The SBP appointed Patrick Aquino as the new head coach of the national team. His first task will be to guide the national team at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games. Ever Bilena Cosmetics, Inc. has been made the new sponsor of the national team. SBP executive director Sonny Barrios pointed out the decision to make changes in the coaching staff of the women's team was made after discussions among members of the search and screening committee, which is composed of several basketball stakeholders.

In a historic run, Perlas officially promoted in the Level 1 of the FIBA Asia Women's Championships that will held in 2017, after the win against India, 82–76.

Gilas Pilipinas Women (2019–present) In May 2019, the SBP announced that the Gilas Pilipinas name would be used across all its sporting programs for the men's, men's youth (men's under-19 and men's under-17), men's 3x3 and women's teams. Aquino assumed responsibility over the Gilas Pilipinas Women program.

Gilas Women attained their best finish at the FIBA Women's Asia Cup in the 2023 edition. They avoided the relegation playoff for the very first time by at least one group stage game at the expense of Chinese Taipei – also their first group stage win since their promotion to the first division in 2015. They finished sixth overall in a tournament of eight teams.

In August 2024, they took part in the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Rwanda, their first ever non-FIBA Asia competition.

The SBP in March 2026 announced that long-time coach Patrick Aquino has left the head coaching role with Aquino's potential replacement include both local and foreign ccoaches. The federation then announced the appointment of Japan-based Canadian BT Toews as the head coach of the Philippines on May 20, 2026. His first tournament with the Philippines is the 2028 FIBA Women's Pre-Qualifying Qualifying Tournament in August 2026.

Uniform Adidas is the official outfitter of the Philippine national team program which includes the women's team since May 2025.

Manufacturer 2025–present: Adidas

Fixtures and results

2026 results

Medal count EventEditions1st edition TotalNotesTot. FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 Olympic Games 0 0 0 0 0 0 FIBA Women's Asia Cup 16 1965 0 0 0 0 Asian Games 2 1998 0 0 0 0 SEABA Championship for Women 7 1995 2 2 2 6 Southeast Asian Games 18 1981 2 7 5 14

Competitions World Cup The Philippines' YearPosition 1953 Did not participate 1957 1959 1964 1967 Did not qualify 1971 Did not participate 1975 1979 Did not qualify 1983 1986 Did not participate 1990 1994 Did not qualify 1998 Did not participate 2002 2006 Suspended 2010 Did not qualify 2014 2018 2022 2026 2030 To be determinedTotal 0 0 0

Olympic Games The Philippines' YearPosition 1976 Did not participate 1980 Boycotted 1984 Did not qualify 1988 Did not participate 1992 1996 Did not qualify 2000 Did not participate 2004 Did not qualify 2008 Did not participate 2012 2016 Did not qualify 2020 2024 2028 To be determined 2032Total 0 0 0

Asia Cup The Philippines' YearDivision ADivision BPositionPldWLPositionPldWL 1965 4th place 8 2 6 No Division B / Level II 1968 6th place 7 2 5 1970 Did not participate 1972 1974 1976 6th place 6 1 5 1978 8th place 8 2 6 1980 Did not participate 1982 8th place 4 1 3 1984 4th place 8 4 4 1986 Did not participate 1988 1990 Did not participate 1992 No Division B / Level II 1994 10th place Level II 5th place 5 2 3 1995 9th place 3rd place 5 3 2 1997 Did not participate Did not participate 1999 2001 2004 8th place Level II 3rd place 3 1 2 2005 11th place 6th place 5 1 4 2007 Did not participate Did not participate 2009 10th place Level II 4th place 5 3 2 2011 Did not participate Did not participate 2013 10th place Level II 4th place 5 3 2 2015 7th place 1st place 6 5 1 2017 7th place 6 1 5 Division A 2019 7th place 4 1 3 No Division B 2021 7th place 4 1 3 Division A 2023 6th place 5 1 4 2025 6th place 5 1 4 2027 Qualified as hosts Total 65 17 48 34 18 16

Asian Games The Philippines' YearPosition 1974 Did not participate 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 6th place 3 0 3 2002 Did not participate 2006 Suspended 2010 Did not participate 2014 2018 2022 5th place 4 2 2 2026 5th place 4 2 2Total 11 4 7

SEABA Championship The Philippines' YearPosition 1995 2nd place 1997 2nd place 1999 3rd place 2002 3rd place 2004 Did not participate 2007 2nd place 6 5 1 2010 1st place 5 5 0 2014 Did not participate 2016 1st place 6 6 0Total 2 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze 16–1 (Incomplete)

Southeast Asian Games The Philippines' YearPosition 1977 Did not enter 1979 did not enter 1981 2nd place 5 3 2 1983 2nd place 4 3 1 1985 2nd place 3 2 1 1987 3rd place 5 3 2 1989 4th place 4 1 3 1991 4th place 6 3 3 1993 5th place 4 0 4 1995 2nd place 6 4 2 1997 4th place 5 2 3 1999 Not held 2001 3rd place 4 2 2 2003 3rd place 5 3 2 2005 Suspended 2007 3rd place 3 1 2 2009 Not held 2011 2nd place 4 3 1 2013 2nd place 4 3 1 2015 4th place 5 3 2 2017 4th place 6 4 2 2019 1st place 3 3 0 2021 1st place 5 4 1 2023 2nd place 6 5 1 2025 1st place 4 4 0Total 3 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze 91 56 35

Other tournaments The Philippines' TournamentPosition 2011 Discovery Women's Invitational 1st place 4 4 0 2013 Discovery Women's Invitational 1st place 4 4 0 2015 Discovery Women's Invitational 1st place 4 4 0 2019 William Jones Cup 6th place 5 0 5 2023 William Jones Cup 5th place 5 1 4 2024 William Jones Cup 4th place 5 2 3 2025 William Jones Cup 5th place 5 1 4

Team Current roster Roster for the 2026 Asian Games.

Past rosters Note: Olympics, World Championships (World Cup), Asian Championships (Asia Cup), Asian Games and SEA Games only. 2010–2019 2020–present

Coaches Arlene Rodriguez (1989) Ricardo Roces (c. 1997) Arturo Cristobal (1999) Fritz Gaston (2003, 2007) Raymond Celis (2005) Haydee Ong (2008–2014) Patrick Aquino (2015–2026) BT Toews (2026–present)

References

External links

FIBA Profile