Despite going ice-cold on offense, Discovery-Rizal managed to hold off Tagaytay-Tol, 66-56, to notch its fourth straight win in the 2025 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League regular season presented by Akari, Wednesday at the Ynares Center in Montalban.
Perlas struggled offensively but weathered a late rally from the Lady Patriots to seal the victory and improve to 4-2, forcing a tie with New Zealand Bluefire-Batangas for second place in the tournament powered by Uratex, Black Mamba, Red Dynasty, Aktive Balls, and Pocari Sweat.
The frigid atmosphere inside the Ynares Center seemed to seep onto the court, with both squads finding it hard to heat up on offense. Discovery-Rizal shot 25-of-75 while Tagaytay-Tol went 16-of-63 from the field.
However, the veteran-laden Perlas made up for their frosty shooting with composure and timely baskets, shutting down the Lady Patriots in the final stretch to ensure the streak stayed alive.
(C) WMPBL
“I would say that we didn’t really play well,” said Discovery-Rizal head coach Derrick Pumaren. “We made a lot of mistakes tonight, especially in the game plan, defensively and offensively we made a lot of mistakes.”
Discovery-Rizal seemed to have broken the game wide open after starting the fourth quarter with a 7-2 burst, capped by an Allana Lim layup. That stretched the gap to its biggest at 16 points, 60-44, with 6:05 remaining.
But just when it looked like the Lady Patriots were down for the count, Stefanie Berberabe ignited a fiery response. She scored four straight points to spearhead a 10-2 run that trimmed the deficit to just eight, 62-54, with 2:34 left to play.
Tantoy Ferrer halted Tagaytay-Tol’s surge with a wide-open layup off a beautiful dime from Lovejoy Candelario, but Luisa San Juan calmly sank two free throws to trim the lead back to eight.
From there, Discovery-Rizal leaned on its defense to hold the Lady Patriots at bay before Camille Sambile finished a fastbreak with 23 seconds left to ice the game for Perlas.
“Instead of taking control of the ball game, stepping on the gas, hindi namin ginawa eh. We made them come back because of our mistakes. Ayun ang nangyari ngayon,” said the veteran Pumaren.
Ferrer, who barely played in the second half due to foul trouble, paced Discovery-Rizal with 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals in 23 minutes of action.
Raiza Palmera-Dy scattered 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, and five steals, while Lim had nine points on 2-of-11 shooting. Tacky Tacatac, who helped hold the fort in Ferrer’s lengthy absence, finished with nine points as well on top of 12 rebounds and four dimes.
Discovery aims to sustain its winning run against Pangasinan-Solar Home on Wednesday, 8:00 PM at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
(C) WMPBL
On the other hand, Tagaytay-Tol saw its back-to-back wins come to a halt, slipping to 2-5 but still holding on to fifth place in the standings.
Berberabe, fresh off her historic quadruple-double, carried the fight for the Lady Patriots with 19 points and added five rebounds and seven steals, though she was limited to just three assists in the defeat.
The Scores:
Discovery-Rizal 66 – Ferrer 13, Palmera-Dy 10, Lim 9, Tacatac 9, Sison 6, Candelario 6, Galicia 5, Sambile 4, Felisarta 2, Anies 2
Tagaytay-Tol 56 – Berberabe 19, Del Carmen 11, Pacia 8, Natural 6, Domingo 6, Paraiso 2, Quingco 2, San Juan 2
Quarterscores: 22-22, 39-29, 53-42, 66-56
