Gilas Pilipinas Women will face Australia to kick off its campaign in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup on Sunday at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in Shenzhen, China.

Action starts at 6 p.m. with the Philippines facing an early acid test against the taller, heftier Australians, who are the bronze medalists in the 2023 Asia Cup.

Gilas will be marching to war zone without veterans Afril Bernardino and Janine Pontejps as they were not given clearance by the Philippine Army while Andrea Tongco and Chack Cabinbin were cut from the roster.

With that, veteran Jack Animam will be the oldest member of the 12-woman Gilas squad while young guns Ella Fajardo, Louna Ozar, Naomi Panganiban and Sumayah Sugapong will be banking on their familiarity in head coach Pat Aquino’s system.

Rounding out the roster are Kasey dela Rosa, Cielo Pagdulagan, Kent Pastrana, Vanessa de Jesus, Khate Castillo, Yvette Villanueva and Angel Surada.

Aquino said their experience in the 44th William Jones Cup recently will greatly help them in this prestigious continental cagefest

“It was a very good experience for us. We have assessed what we need to do more and the advantages we can use,” said Aquino, adding that he liked how his team perform despite finishing with a 1-4 win-loss record in the Jones Cup.

“The good thing is we can score even if we are young. They are learning so fast and that’s a positive for us.”

“As far as the team’s performance is concerned, I think we did good. We were the youngest team.”

After the Australians, the Filipinas will be facing the Japanese on Monday and Lebanese on Wednesday to wrap up their pool play campaign.