The 2019 Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa (July 8-17) is the official Qualifier to the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers. The top 2 teams will qualify to the next round of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualification phase.

Apia (Samoa) – Guam women’s national basketball team ruled the Micronesia Games to qualify to the 2019 Pacific Games.

With a mixture of veteran and new faces, Guam will be in for unfinished business in the quadrennial sports showpiece in the Pacific especially after settling for just a fifth-place finish during the last edition back in 2015.

But Guam’s redemption bid will not be a walk in the park as it will be up against Melanesia Cup queen Papua New Guinea, Polynesia Cup champion Cook Islands, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Tahiti, host Samoa, and reigning Pacific Games titlist Fiji.

Photo from Derin Stinnett

QUALIFIERS

"Domination" would be an understatement for Guam, when they completed a clean sweep of the Micronesia Games to make it to the Pacific tilt.

Guam posted convincing wins over Palau (71-41), Chuuk (101-17), Pohnpei (81-61) and CNMI (106-66) with an average margin of 43.5 points to gain an outright semi-final berth.

In the semi-finals, Guam repeated over Pohnpei (81-54) before eking out another huge 62-38 win over Republic of Marshall Islands to secure the Gold Medal.

POSSIBLE KEY PLAYERS

Joy Pangilinan, Destiny Castro, Mia San Nicolas

Guam’s roster for the Pacific Games is a well-balanced one, from top to bottom, thus making it an even dangerous squad now than its last outing in 2015.

The troika of Pangilinan, Castro, and San Nicolas is definitely the one to watch out despite the rise of its young players Kara Duenas, Kali Benavente, Chloe Miranda, Elysia Perez, and team captain Derin Stinnett.

Pangilinan and Castro teamed up in Guam’s gold medal win over RMI in the Micronesia Games with 15 and 14 markers, respectively.

San Nicolas, on the other hand, is one of the promising stars of Guam Women's basketball and will be tasked to have a bigger role heading into the Pacific Games.

2015 PACIFIC GAMES PERFORMANCE

Guam settled for a fifth-place finish in the last edition of the Pacific Games behind Fiji, American Samoa, Tahiti, and Papua New Guinea.

Guam actually had a decent 2-2 record in the preliminaries following its wins over Nauru (116-25) and New Caledonia (68-57) together with losses against PNG (89-98) and Tahiti (54-67).

Still, though, it failed to advance in the Final Four, bleeding for the best possible finish after the classification matches.

Photo from GSPN.com

OUTLOOK

From all the participating squads, Guam probably had one of the most intensive preparations, proving its seriousness to take care of some unfinished business in the Pacific Games.

Just last month, Guam under the tutelage of head coach Paul Pineda paid a visit in the Philippines to intensify its training for the Pacific Games. Guam played five scrimmages and managed to rack up a 3-2 card.

It won against Ateneo Lady Eagles (69-67), UP Lady Maroons (62-58) and Azusa Pacific University (72-53).

However, it bowed down to Philippines’ best teams in 47th-ranked Perlas Pilipinas women’s national team, 61-94, and the five-time University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) champion NU Lady Bulldogs, 74-80.

With the Manila trip on their back as an added experience, expect the retooled Guam squad to better its fifth-place finish last time.

A podium finish would be the realistic goal but Guam, as per Pineda, would be gunning for the ultimate one.

“We are competing for the gold. There’s no other goal,” he said to Guam Daily Post.

For more Pacific Games information visit the official website here.

FIBA