San Juan-DN Steel stamped its class on RK Hoops-Quezon City, 92-35, to move up to solo first in the 2025 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League regular season presented by Akari, Wednesday at the Ynares Center Montalban.
The Lady Knights clamped down defensively, holding RK Hoops-QC to single digits in each of the first three quarters en route to a dominant 57-point win, improving their record to 5-2 in the tournament backed by Uratex, Black Mamba, Red Dynasty, Aktive Balls, and Pocari Sweat.
(C) WMPBL
“Siyempre nandito na tayo sa second round, so every game counts sa’min ngayon. So coming kami dun sa dalawang [talo], tapos one big game kalaban ang Batangas, ‘yun lang. Ayaw na namin bumalik dun sa dati,” said San Juan-DN Steel head coach Ai Lebornio.
“Talagang sineseryoso na ng mga bata ‘yung ginagawa nila. Hindi lang sila, actually kami rin kasi siyempre, may goal din kami gusto namin na mabuo ‘yung team namin kahit na bago pa lang,” she added.
Florence Talas put up her best scoring performance of the tournament with a game-high 17 points on 50-percent shooting from the field. She also had five rebounds and four steals.
Meanwhile, Sthefanie Ventura registered a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds, laced with four assists.
(C) WMPBL
Hazel Panti tallied 11 points, seven assists, and five rebounds, while Rejoice Adlawan and Maimai Canuto added 10 markers apiece for the Lady Knights in the wire-to-wire victory.
San Juan-DN Steel stars Janine Pontejos and Chack Cabinbin played limited minutes against the struggling RK Hoops-QC. The former logged 10 minutes and finished with four markers, while the latter went scoreless in almost six minutes of game time.
The Lady Knights look to extend their winning run to three games against Pangasinan-Solar Home on September 17, 4:00 PM at the Montano Hall in Cavite City.
On the other hand, RK Hoops-QC dropped its fifth consecutive game to fall to 1-5 in the standings.
Alexa Peñaroyo and Caryl Molina paced the team with six points apiece, while Darren Joy Canayong and Christine Isip had five markers each.
RK Hoops-QC looks to break out of its slump versus Tagaytay-Tol also on September 17.
The Scores
San Juan-DN Steel 92 – Talas 17, Ventura 16, Panti 11, Adlawan 10, Canuto 10, Tolentino 9, Mendaros 6, Pontejos 4, Paras 4, Ramos 3, Pedregosa 2, Junsay 0, Cabinbin 0
RK Hoops-Quezon City 35 – Peñaroyo 6, Molina 6, Canayong 5, Isip 5, Buendia 3, Cayco 3, Alcantara 3, Dela Cruz 2, Flor 2
Quarterscores: 21-6, 49-15, 72-24, 92-35
