AS if the road for Gilas Pilipinas Women in the 2021 Fiba Women's Asia Cup isn't already hard, the national women's team is bracing for two WNBA standouts when it plays Australia in the group stages in Amman, Jordan.
New York Liberty starters Sami Whitcomb and Rebecca Allen were included in the Opals' 12-women lineup which will be seeing action from September 27 to October 3.
Whitcomb is a 5-foot-10 guard who averaged 11.7 points on 43-percent shooting from deep, to go with 5.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.0 steal in 28.1 minutes this season.
Allen, meanwhile, is a 6-foot-2 winger who netted 9.2 points, 3.7 boards, 1.6 steals, 1.2 blocks, and 1.1 assists in 24.2 minutes of action.
Gilas women at practice
Both Whitcomb and Allen played for New York to clinch the No. 8 spot in the 2021 WNBA Playoffs.
The Liberty will play the fifth seed Phoenix Mercury in Round 1, with the knockout game set on Thursday at the Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix (Friday, Manila time) .
Their availability, however, remains dependent on New York's performance in the WNBA Playoffs.
Aside from the two, though, Australia still has a potent lineup despite having zero holdovers from its roster in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Leading the Opals are WNBL standouts Lauren Nicholson, Maddison Rocci, and Darcee Garbin, as well as guard Jaz Shelley, who played the last two years in Oregon before transferring to Nebraska.
China and Chinese Taipei have yet to unveil their rosters, but this early, it's certainly going to be a tall task for Gilas Women in their campaign in Jordan to keep itself in the continent's Division A.
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