First ever franchise win, most lead in a blowout game, most 3 pointers recorded and even a game winner occurred during Week 5 of the Women’s Maharlika Basketball League!
Who are the teams that have ended the week on a positive note and who are about to be eliminated?
Best Among The Rest: Lady Sailors (5-1) and Valkyries (4-1)
Last February 23, the Philippine Navy Lady Sailors won their match against the PSP Gymers to be on the top of the standings, 68 – 35. The Lady Sailors are now on a 3 game winning streak thanks to the performances of Trixie Antiquerra, Janelle Mendoza and their double-double machine, Afril Bernardino. Antiquerra had 24 points as well as making a league record of eight 3 pointers made in a game. Mendoza had 14 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Bernardino had a phenomenal stat line of 13 points, 10 boards, 6 assists and 8 steals.
Meanwhile last February 19, Snow Peñaranda hit the game winner as she gave the New Zealand Bluefire Valkyries the W against the FEU Lady Tamaraws. With 8.8 seconds to go, New Zealand up by two, the Lady Tamaraws still had a chance to send the game to overtime or win it but the 3 point attempt of EJ Lopez fell short which ultimately became the end of the ball game. Peñaranda’s shot gave her a total of 22 points and 6 rebounds. Attita Quingco also contributed 12 points and 8 boards and Bettina Binaohan almost had a double-double with 9 points and 10 rebounds. Final score was 70 – 68.
In The Winning Momentum: Tigresses (3-0), Lady Knights and Discovery (3-1)
Also during Feb 19, both the UST Growling Tigresses and San Juan Lady Knights picked up their third win. The battle of colleges between UST versus CEU Lady Scorpions was a lopsided game from start to finish with the Growling Tigresses making league history with the most points in a blowout victory which is 72 points. The game ended with a score of 105 – 33. Kent Pastrana led UST with 22 points while shooting 63% from the field and even recording 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals. Oma Onianwa had a monster double-double performance of 16 points and 16 rebounds along with 4 steals and 4 blocks.
While their rookie, Gin Reliquette also had 14 points and 5 assists. Ayesha Pescador also had a major contribution of 12 points while only playing 7 minutes while former UAAP MVP Eka Soriano had 11 points and Karylle Sierba had 10 points.
In the meantime, the Lady Knights had a close win against the Cavite ‘Tol Lady Patriots with a score of 62 – 58. Karen Salanpong scored the most points for San Juan with 14 while their reinforcement Annick Edimo Ticky had 13 points and 8 rebounds. But the best player of the game was awarded to LJ Miranda with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Discovery Perlas also had an easy victory against the EZ Jersey Relentless last Sunday (Feb 23) with a score of 88 – 45. Angel Anies led the scoring with 18 as she buried five 3 pointers in only 14 mins of playtime. Allana Lim had 16 points in 7-of-9 field goal shooting while having 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Raiza Palmera-Dy also had 15 points, 9 assists and 7 steals.
Still a Working Progress: Lady Tamaraws, Lady Scorpions, Lady Patriots, Suns and Lady Magdalo all go 1-3
The loss of Lady Tamaraws versus New Zealand resulted in their record to 1 win and 3 losses as the efforts of Amyah Espanol, MJ Manguiat and EJ Lopez all came to waste. Espanol had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Manguiat had 16 points and 9 rebounds while Lopez who took the last shot in hopes of winning the game for FEU had 12 points.
For the CEU Lady Scorpions, it’s only Diana Defeles who had a decent performance during their historical 72 point blowout loss against UST. She had 9 points and 5 rebounds.
Last February 23 as well, the Solar Home Suns squared off against the Imus Lady Magdalo with the Suns getting their first ever franchise win after 3 games. The final score was 57 – 52 with Jecel Alba having 12 points and 13 rebounds. Her teammate Patricia Rodas also had a great game of 11 points and 6 rebounds. But the best player goes to Jollina Go with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Despite the loss, there were also multiple double digit scorers for the Lady Magdalo as Annie Grace Pamaran had 13 points, Nicole Cabahug with 11 points and both Ebio and Flor each scoring 10 points.
Rock Bottom: EZ goes down (0-4) and Gymers falls (0-5)
It’s not looking good for both of these squads since they are the only teams left to record without a win in the tournament.
The loss of EZ Jersey Relentless against Discovery was so bad that only Janeth Sison was the lone double digit scorer for the team. She had 10 points and 4 assists.
PSP Gymers on the other hand are now on the brink of elimination after bowing down against the Lady Sailors. Queenie Aquino had 8 points and Jeedel Bartolo had 7 points.
Week 6 action of WMPBL continues at Enderun Titan Gym on February 26 2025 (Wednesday). The CEU Lady Scorpions battle the Imus Lady Magdalo at 4:00 PM. Game 2 features the UST Growling Tigresses going up against Pilipinas Aguilas at 6:00 PM. The last game showcases the Galeries Tower Skyrisers versus the Discovery Perlas at 8:00 PM.
