New Zealand Blufire-Batangas sustained its dominant form, romping Discovery-Rizal, 101-87, to claim its second straight win to start the 2025 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League regular season presented by Akari, Wednesday at the Enderun Gym.
Coming off a 30-point, 86-56 rout of Tagaytay-Tol, the Valkyries continued to roll and dismantled a top contender in the Perlas to improve to 2-0 in the tournament supported by Uratex, Black Mamba, Red Dynasty, Aktive Balls, and Pocari Sweat.
“It’s a big win for us, especially since Discovery is a very strong team. We wanted to make a statement that we’re here to compete,” said New Zealand Blufire-Batangas head coach Cholo Villanueva.
“It was a very good win for us — personally, for me — because I went up against Coach Derrick [Pumaren]. I came from the Pumaren coaching tree, so I never thought it would be possible to coach against him,” he added.
(C) WMPBL
Snow Peñaranda and Afril Bernardino set the tone early for the Valkyries, combining forces to ignite a 14-6 finishing run that turned a slim 14-12 edge into a more comfortable 27-18 edge by the end of the opening quarter.
Discovery-Rizal struggled to keep pace as New Zealand Blufire-Batangas stepped on the gas, dominating the next two quarters and pulling ahead by as much as 24 points, 86–62, following an Afril Bernardino layup at the 7:07 mark of the fourth.
Pringle Fabruada posted a game-high of 21 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists for the Valkyries. Meanwhile, Bernardino fired 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, three assists, a steal, and two blocks in just 20 minutes of action.
Queenie Aquino added 16 points and seven rebounds, while Peñaranda had 14 points and seven boards as well in the victory.
(C) WMPBL
On the other hand, the Perlas’ struggles continued as they failed to find their rhythm once again, forcing them to play catch-up and drop to a 0–2 record.
Allana Lim’s second consecutive double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds went for naught as Discovery-Rizal surprisingly dropped its first two games to open the tournament.
Raiza Palmera-Dy scored 17 points, laced with five rebounds and four assists, but committed a total of eight turnovers in almost 28 minutes of play.
Angel Anies added 14 points, while Tacky Tacatac had 13 points in the loss.
The Scores
New Zealand Blufire-Batangas 101 – Fabruada 21, Bernardino 20, Aquino 16, Peñaranda 14, Bariquit 9, Sanchez 6, Torres 6, Claro 5, Manzanares 4, Calang 0, Tongco 0
Discovery-Rizal 87 – Lim 20, Palmera-Dy 17, Anies 14, Tacatac 13, Sison 5, Felisarta 4, Galicia 4, Ferrer 4, Capilit 3, Candelario 3, Sambile 0, Marcos 0
Quarterscores: 27-18, 50-36, 77-58, 101-87
