KIGALI, Rwanda— Rising senior
Ella Fajardo of the Iona University women's basketball team will represent the Philippines women's basketball national team at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Pre-Qualifying Tournament this upcoming week in Rwanda.
The FIBA pre-qualifying tournament will feature eight teams, broken up into two groups with games held August 19-25 at Kigali Arena in Rwanda's capital city. Philippines will take on Brazil, Hungary and Senegal in group play. The other four teams in pod two are hosts, Rwanda, Great Britain, Argentina and Lebanon.
The pre-qualifying tournament will be Fajardo's third appearance with the Philippines senior national team. She has played nine games in two appearances with Gilas Pilipinas at the 2023 and 2021 FIBA Women's Asia Cup.
In her first season with the Maroon & Gold, Fajardo made 29 starts at the guard position. She averaged 7.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game in 2023-24. Her 102 assists led the team, and her 34 steals ranked second on the team. She finished the season ranked fifth in the MAAC with a 1.3 assist to turnover ratio.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals and the winner of the tournament will qualify for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournaments in March 2026. Those qualifying tournaments will consist of 24 teams. A total of 16 nations will punch tickets to the expanded 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Germany.
Philippines TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Group Play
Monday, August 19 – vs. Brazil – 8:00 a.m. ET (2:00 p.m. local)
Tuesday, August 20 – vs. Hungary – 11:00 a.m. ET (5:00 p.m. local)
Wednesday, August 21 – Rest Day
Thursday, August 22 – vs. Senegal – 5:00 a.m. ET (11:00 a.m. local)
Semifinals (Top 2 from each Group)
Saturday, August 24 – 11:00 a.m./ 2:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m./8:00 p.m. local)
Final
Sunday, August 25 – 11:00 a.m. ET (5:00 p.m. local)
SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to follow Iona women's basketball and Iona Athletics on our social media platforms.
IonaGaels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)
Iona Women's Basketball: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)