National University survived a late scare from the Malaysia Select Team, escaping with an 81-78 victory to open its 2026 BLIA Cup campaign on Wednesday at Kaohsiung Arena in Taiwan.
The Lady Bulldogs, who finished runners-up in last year’s tournament after falling to Japan Women’s College of Physical Education in the final, leaned on clutch free throws from Tin Cayabyab and a game-saving defensive play by Zaydhen Rosano to secure the win.
NU appeared to be in complete control after building a 73-60 lead with seven minutes remaining and extending it to 79-72 with 1:15 left.
Malaysia, however, mounted a furious rally. Khalidah Kamaludin knocked down a three-pointer with 47.7 seconds remaining to trim the deficit to 79-76 before a NU turnover led to a Tan Sin Jie layup that cut the lead to just one, 79-78, with 21.6 seconds left.
Cayabyab then calmly sank two free throws after drawing a foul from Kamaludin, restoring NU’s three-point cushion at 81-78.
Following a timeout, Rosano came up with the defensive play of the game, anticipating and stealing Tan Sin Jie’s inbound pass before dribbling out the remaining time to preserve the Lady Bulldogs’ opening-day victory.
Cielo Pagdulagan paced NU with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field.
Rosano added 15 points, four rebounds, two assists, and three steals, while Cayabyab finished with 16 points on a perfect 6-of-6 clip from the free-throw line to go along with six rebounds.
Ann Pingol chipped in nine points and eight rebounds.
Tan Sin Jie led the Malaysia Select Team with 16 points.
NU will face National Taiwan Normal University on Thursday.
The top two teams in each pool will advance to the crossover semifinals.
