Gilas girls secure promotion to FIBA U16 Asian Championship Division A after drubbing Iran

The Gilas girls are heading to the top flight! FIBA

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Gilas Pilipinas' girls' under-16 team is heading to Division A of the FIBA U16 Asian Championship!

Gilas secured promotion after ruling the Division B event through an 83-60 win against Iran in the final early Monday (Philippine Time) at the Prince Hamza Sports Hall in Amman.

The Gilas girls' pressure defense worked wonders again as they held the Iranians to only 11 second-quarter points to begin pulling away from a close first quarter.

Iran recovered offensively in the third quarter, but they could only match Gilas' own offensive output even as Gilas closed the game strong to seal the rout.

Nevaeh Smith led Gilas with 21 points, two rebounds, one assist, and one steal, while Ava Fajardo added 12 points, three rebounds, nine assists, and one steal.

Gilas will take the place of Thailand, which was relegated after going 0-4 in the group stages of the Division A event, in the 2025 edition.

Fatemeh Jafari and Helya Houdneh each scored 14 markers for Iran.

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