New Zealand Blufire-Batangas extended its perfect run in the 2025 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League regular season presented by Akari, cruising to a wire-to-wire, 99–45 victory over RK-Hoops Quezon City on Sunday evening at the Enderun Gym.
Coming off back-to-back wins over Tagaytay-Tol (86–56) and perennial contender Discovery-Rizal (101–87), the Valkyries made quick work of RK-Hoops to improve to a league-best 3–0 record in the six-team tournament supported by Uratex, Black Mamba, Red Dynasty, Aktive Balls, and Pocari Sweat.
With three straight wins under their belt, New Zealand Blufire-Batangas gained crucial momentum ahead of a marquee matchup against fellow unbeaten squad San Juan Lady Knights (2–0) next Sunday, July 27, at the Batangas City Coliseum.
(C) WMPBL
“It’s still early into the season, so we have a lot of work in front of us. We just have to keep improving and progressing properly. Rest and recover mabuti dapat,” said Valkyries head coach Cholo Villanueva.
“We’ll look and prepare for our next game [against San Juan]. That’s a very good, competitive team. We’re looking forward to that competition. They’re a well-structured team, well-coached by coach Ai [Lebornio]. We’re gonna be preparing for them and we’ll want to dictate the game against them,” he added.
The Valkyries wasted no time asserting their dominance, racing to a 29–9 first-quarter lead behind an 11-point outburst from Charmine Torres. That explosive start immediately set the tone and put RK-Hoops Quezon City on the back foot.
New Zealand Blufire-Batangas kept the pressure on in the second frame, riding late buckets from Afril Bernardino and Pringle Fabruada to take a commanding 52–19 lead into halftime.
RK-Hoops Quezon City showed signs of life early in the third quarter, but any hopes of a comeback were quickly extinguished. Alyssa Villamor, Queenie Aquino, and Torres teamed up to spark a 19–7 run to close the third, ballooning the lead to 74–29 heading into the final frame.
The Valkyries left no doubt in the fourth, opening the payoff period with an 11–4 blitz to stretch the lead to 85–33 and ultimately seal their third straight victory.
New Zealand Blufire-Batangas dominated nearly every statistical category, but it was their offensive efficiency (38-of-78 shooting for 48-percent), ball movement (34 assists to RK’s 13), aggressive defense (25 steals to 21), and ability to protect the ball (only 13 turnovers compared to RK’s 34) that truly separated them.
Princess Manzanares, who entered the game averaging just four points and two rebounds, delivered a breakout performance with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, along with five rebounds and a steal. Fabruada maintained her solid form with 13 points, six boards, and three steals.
Torres added 12 points on an efficient 5-of-7 clip, while also tallying three rebounds and one steal. Villamor chipped in 11 points and five rebounds of her own.
Though limited to just seven points on 3-of-8 shooting, Bernardino still impacted the game with six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks.
(C) WMPBL
The loss marked RK-Hoops Quezon City’s second straight defeat following their opening day win against Solar Home-Pangasinan last June 30.
Caryl Molina led the team with a double-double effort of 11 points and 12 rebounds. Bernalyn Aragon, Christine Isip, and Caramia Buendia each contributed seven points in the loss.
RK-Hoops Quezon City will look to snap its skid and get back on track when it takes on Tagaytay-Tol on Sunday, August 17, in Tagaytay.
The Scores:
New Zealand Blufire-Batangas 99 — Manzanares 14, Fabruada 13, Torres 12, Villamor 11, Calang 9, Aquino 8, Sanchez 7, Bernardino 7, Penaranda 6, Lozada 4, Bariquit 3, Claro 3, Arciga 2, Tongco 0.
Rk Hoops-Quezon City 45 — Molina 11, Aragon 7, Isip 7, Buendia 7, Young 5, Camelo 3, Canayong 2, Docallos 1, Cac 0, Flor 0, Penaroyo 0, Geli 0, Alcantara 0, Dela Cruz 0.
Quarterscores: 30-9, 52-19, 74-29, 99-45.
