MANILA, Philippines — Galeries Tower and San Juan picked up identical one-sided wins to claim an early share of the lead in the Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League last Wednesday at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig.
The Skyrisers handed the Centro Escolar University Lady Scorpions a 56-point drubbing, 102-46, in a lopsided opening match; while the Lady Knights demolished the Solar Home Suns, 75-39, in another wire-to-wire affair to close the day.
Both squads joined Imus, New Zealand-Bluefire and University of Santo Tomas atop Group B, each with a 1-0 record.
Cindy Resultay and Rachel Lacayanga set the tone early for Galeries, combining for 22 points in the first half to power the Skyrisers' 59-point explosion, which quickly drained the fight out of the young Lady Scorpions.
Galeries kept its foot on the gas and pushed the lead to as big as 59 points, 102-43, after Kamba Kone drained a turnaround jumper with 1:02 remaining in the game.
“Actually bago kami pumunta dito, sobrang thankful kami kasi unang-una, first WMPBL so ‘yung mga bata talaga excited. Nung binubuo namin ‘tong team na ‘to, lahat kami nago-goosebumps kami,” said Skyrisers head coach Ai Lebornio after the victory.
“Thankful kami kay Coach Haydee (Ong), sa lahat ng bumubuo nito na nagawa nila ‘to. Hindi lang naman ‘to para sa amin, para rin ito sa mga new generation, ‘yung mga darating na batang babae (para) sila naman ‘yung mag-boom dito sa women’s basketball,” added the concurrent UE Lady Warriors head coach.
Five players from Galeries scored in double digits, with former UE Lady Warrior Resultay leading the charge with a game-high 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and five steals, while Malian big man Kone followed suit with 15 points, six boards and four steals.
Princess Fabruada, a former National University Lady Bulldog, registered 13 points and four steals, Lacayanga had 12 markers, while Ambie Almazan had a double-double of 10 points and 19 boards to go with six assists in the Skyrisers’ debut victory in the league supported by boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, Sen. Francis Tolentino and MPBL Party-list.
No player from the side of CEU breached the double-digit mark, with Jhianne Ferolino and Diana Defeles scoring seven points each to lead the reigning WNCAA champion.
Meanwhile, San Juan followed a similar script in the nightcap, barely breaking a sweat against the Suns to notch a winning debut in the inaugural tournament, which is also backed by Uratex, Discovery Suites, Red Dynasty, Gotobox, Gerry’s Grill, Prettiest, Team Graphitee, Evo Performance Helmets, Ryzen Helmets, Katinko, Dorayd, Sogo Hotel, Global Bosny Manufacturing and Bavin.
The Lady Knights built a 34-17 lead over Solar Home in the first half, then ramped up their play in the second, extending their biggest lead of the game to 36 points after Mary Cris Mejasco’s short stab with 32.3 seconds remaining.
“Para sa akin, first game, masasabi ko good performance. Pero syempre, dahil ‘yung gusto pa rin namin, may mga kulang pa kasi kami sa offense saka sa defense eh since nag-start lang kami nung last December. May mga kulang pa na ‘di namin nakikita,” said San Juan head coach Christopher John Tolentino.
Cameroonian center Annick Edimo Tiky registered a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Knights, while Rejoice Adlawan scored 12 points as well to go along with nine boards and five assists.
Also finishing in double digits for San Juan are the pair of LJ Miranda and Jhenn Angeles with 11 markers each. Miranda, a former Ateneo Blue Eagle, also had 14 boards and five assists, while Angeles, a former UST Tigress, collected four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
On the other hand, Miranda's former teammate at Ateneo Jollina Go paced the Suns with seven points, while Tin Cortizano, Maria Therese Medina, and Pesky Pesquera all chipped in six markers in the loss.
The scores:
Galeries Tower 102 – Resultay 16, Kone 15, Fabruada 13, Lacayanga 12, Almazan 10, Buendia 9, Canuto 8, Buscar 4, Tecson 4, Abriam 4, Manzanares 4, Bernardo 3, Vacalaeres 0, Ramos 0
CEU 46 – Defeles 7, Ferolino 7, Garcia 6, Gumapo 6, Tapinit 4, Banih 4, Mahusay 4, Bautista 3, Autida 2, Montecalbo 2, Cadano 1,
Quarterscores: 27-9, 59-20, 79-34, 102-46.