MANILA -- The Gilas Pilipinas Women have jumped five places to No. 37 in the latest FIBA World Rankings released by the federation on Wednesday.

The improvement comes in the wake of the national team's strong performance in the FIBA Women's Asia Cup, where they won a group stage game for the first time.

Their victory over Chinese Taipei ensured that the Gilas Women will stay in Division A.

At No. 37 globally, Gilas Women are ranked seventh in Asia, behind world No. 2 China, world No. 3 Australia, world No. 9 Japan, world No. 13 Korea, world No. 23 New Zealand, and world No. 37 Chinese Taipei.

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The United States remain on top of the standings, with their 834.6 points putting them comfortably ahead of China (687.1 points).

Per FIBA, a number of nations including Belgium, Brazil, Nigeria, and Mali made great progress in the last edition of the rankings.

After winning the FIBA Women's EuroBasket, Belgium rose to sixth place, while Brazil jumped seven places to No. 8 after their triumph at the FIBA Women's AmeriCup.

Nigeria is now up to No. 11, an improvement of seven spots after they ruled the FIBA Women's AfroBasket for the fourth straight time.

In Asia, Thailand rose 39 places to No. 62, while Iran improved 26 places to No. 52 after making it to the title game of the FIBA Women's Asia Cup Division B tournament.

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