Gilas Pilipinas Women head coach BT Toews at least saw a silver lining in the team’s direction under his watch despite an early exit in the FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-qualifying Tournament in Mexico.

The Filipinas fell short of advancing in the semifinals of their first major international tournament since Toews took over the program three months ago, settling for a 1-2 record in Group B.

Gilas Women salvaged some measure of pride after beating African powerhouse Senegal, 79-75, on Friday at the Astros Arena in Guadalajara.    

It was Gilas Women’s best game as they showed maturity and composure to fend off the Senegalese’s late charge, something the team lacked in an opening-day heartbreaker against the host team.

Still, Toews was far from satisfied with the team’s performance.

“One game does not give you an identity but we’re definitely headed in the right direction,” he said as his team shifts its focus in the coming Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games next month.

Toews, a two-time Women’s Japan Basketball League champion mentor, underscored the importance of playing smarter.

Gilas Women blew a golden opportunity to bring down Mexico in the opener after squandering their 12-point halftime lead and allowing the Mexicans to pull off a 61-58 come-from-behind win.

The Philippines was then routed by world No. 7 Canada, 38-85.  

“We need to play with passion, which is something that the Gilas team always does and as Jack (Animam) said, fight. But fighting is not enough at this level. Your brain has to follow,” the Canadian tactician said.

“So, we’re still waiting for the execution to get better and fewer hiccups in a game. So, we’re not quite there but I think we’re headed in the right direction,” he said.

Gilas Women are set to compete in the 20th Asiad from 17 to 26 September and are in Group B with the previous edition’s silver medalist Japan, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong.

The Philippines was eliminated by South Korea in the quarterfinal of the Hangzhou edition three years ago.