Valkyries secure 3rd straight victory
'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.'
Daily Tribune'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.'
PRINCESS Manzanares connects on a layup to lift New Zealand Blufire-Batangas to a 99-45 victory over RK-Hoops Quezon City in the 2025 WMPBL regular season on Sunday.
Photograph courtesy of WMPBL
New Zealand Blufire-Batangas extended its perfect run as it cruised to a wire-to-wire 99-45 victory over RK-Hoops Quezon City in the 2025 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League regular season on Sunday evening at the Enderun Gym.
Coming off back-to-back wins over Tagaytay-Tol and perennial contender Discovery-Rizal, the Valkyries made quick work of RK-Hoops to improve to a league-best 3–0 record in the six-team tournament.
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 at the Batangas City Coliseum.
“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,” Valkyries head coach Cholo Villanueva said.
“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.”
The Valkyries wasted no time asserting their dominance, racing to a 29-9 first-quarter lead behind an 11-point outburst from Charmine Torres, setting the tone for the 54-point massacre.
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.
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.
The loss marked RK-Hoops Quezon City’s second straight defeat following their opening day win against Solar Home-Pangasinan last 30 June.
