Jack Animam looks to boost new French squad 

MANILA, Philippines – When given the opportunity and playing time, Jack Animam will deliver the goods. 

This she has shown time and again throughout her career in the collegiate ranks in the Philippines and Chinese-Taipei, with the Gilas women’s national team, and even in a top-notch professional league in Europe.

After being sidelined for a year due to a knee injury, the 6-foot-3 Gilas women’s star center moved to France in late January after initially getting signed by Toulouse Metropole Basket which currently sits at last place in the standings of the Ligue Féminine de Basketball, the French premier women’s division.

After three uneventful games with Toulouse Metropole, all of which resulted in losses, where she averaged 3.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in just 12.6 minutes of play, Animam transferred to USO Mondeville Basket in the Ligue Feminine 2 de Basketball.

Animam will look to provide the lift that Mondeville needs to keep its slim playoff hopes alive or at the very least, maintain its spot in the French league Division 2.

Last Saturday, Animam showed her new team a glimpse of what she brings to the table. In her first game with Mondeville, the former NU Lady Bullldog produced 6 points and 4 rebounds in 19 minutes of action off the bench to help her squad pull off a 60-59 upset win over La Tronche Meylan Basket at the Charlaix Maupertuis Gymnasium in La Tronche-Meylan.

Mondeville improved to a 7-10 slate as they notched their fourth win in the last six games. Although Mondeville currently sits in 10th place out of 12 teams, the team is just two games behind La Tronche which dropped to a triple tie for fourth place in the standings with a 9-8 record.

Animam will be looked upon to play a bigger role as the road ahead gets tougher for Mondeville entering the last five games of the season. 

She will be sharing frontline duties with 6-foot naturalized Morrocan Sarah Ousfar who starts at center for Mondeville and averages 10.8 points and 8.5 boards. 

A pair of youngsters, Louise Bussiere and Vaciana Gomis who are both former members of the French under-20 national team, are also averaging in double figures for Mondeville. 

Bussiere is a 5-foot-11 power forward contributing 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds, while Gomis, a 5-foot-8 shooting guard, is the team’s leading scorer with her average of 11.9 points per game.

Mondeville will travel on March 11 to face Montbrison which is tied with La Tronche for fourth place in the standings, before Animam and her squad host third-ranked Feytiat on March 18. – Rappler.com