By: Jerod Orcullo
Philippine Navy star Afril Bernardino was crowned the first-ever Most Valuable Player in the Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League on Sunday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, capping off an outstanding campaign.
Bernardino tallied a total of 448 statistical points, averaging an impressive 20.14 points, 11.43 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 5.0 steals, and 2.4 blocks per game in the tournament backed by Manny Pacquiao, Senator Francis Tolentino, and the MPBL Partylist.
Her all-around performance played a crucial role in leading the Lady Sailors to the quarterfinals, where they pushed the twice-to-beat Galeries Tower to the limit before falling short in the second game.
“Thankful and blessed because we have this kind of tournament here, especially since this is our first pro league in the Philippines. So, yun, thankful,” said Bernardino, also a three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and a three-time UAAP MVP.
(C) WMPBL
Bernardino’s remarkable campaign also saw her make history by recording the league’s first-ever triple-double and setting the record for most steals in a single game. She posted 26 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 steals in an elimination-round victory over Centro Escolar University.
Joining Bernardino in the Mythical Team are Galeries Towers’ Ambie Almazan (383 SPs), University of Santo Tomas’ Kent Pastrana (360), Discovery Perlas’ Allana Lim (344), and Pilipinas Aguilas’ Alexis Pana (332).
Another Skyriser, Cindy Resultay, also earned recognition, winning the Defensive Player of the Year award after averaging 4.8 defensive rebounds and 2.7 steals per game in the tournament, which was supported by sponsors 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.
Danica Pacia of Cavite-TOL rounded out the awardees, taking home the Sportsmanship Award.
#WATCH: Philippine Navy’s Afril Bernardino hopes to inspire after being the first-ever WMPBL MVP 🏀
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— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) April 20, 2025
