Philippine Navy kept its campaign alive while University of Santo Tomas (UST), Pilipinas Aguilas and Discovery Perlas secured semifinal spots in the 2025 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (WMPBL) Invitational Tournament, Sunday at the New Era Gym.
Pool B third seed Navy lived to fight another day, disarming second-ranked Galeries Tower with a 56-43 victory in the league supported by Manny Pacquiao, Senator Francis Tolentino and the MPBL Partylist.
Despite a slow fourth quarter that saw them just score three points in total, the Lady Sailors did just enough to set up a winner-take-all quarterfinal match-up against the Skyrisers, which will take place on Wednesday.
Afril Bernardino did almost everything just to keep Navy alive, pouring 16 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, five steals and three blocks, while Andrea Tongco and Janelle Mendoza chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively.
For Galeries, Pringle Fabruada had 14 points and four boards, while Abbie Almazan had a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds to go along with four steals.
On the other hand, Pool B top seed UST opened the jam-packed quadruple-header with a 63-54 win over fourth-ranked New Zealand-Bluefire to secure its seat in the semis behind the monster effort of center Oma Onianwa.
‘Of course, I’m happy that we won. It’s a good win but we still have a lot of things to improve.’
The Nigerian center also scored six straight points in a crucial 9-0 run, helping the UST extend its four-point lead to 13, 59-46, with under five minutes remaining — a blow that effectively took the wind out of the Valkyries.
Kent Pastrana added nine points and 11 rebounds on top of three assists, while Agatha Bron scattered seven points, two rebounds, three assists and four steals in the win.
“Of course, I’m happy that we won. It’s a good win but we still have a lot of things to improve,” Tigresses coach Ged Austria said.
“We’re not yet satisfied. We still need to improve both on the technical side and in terms of exerting effort.”
Over at the other side, Camille Claro paced New Zealand-Bluefire with 15 points and four assists, while Snow Peñaranda had 14 points and nine rebounds in a losing cause.
Meanwhile, Pool A top seed Discovery and second-placed Pilipinas Aguilas set up a semifinal showdown.
The Aguilas used a balanced offensive strike, with 14 players contributing to the scoreboard, to dismantle third-ranked Far Eastern University, 78-49, and secure a spot in the semifinals.
Cheska Apag finished with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Pilipinas Aguilas, while Kem Adeshina also came up with 10 markers and six boards.
On the other hand, Yvette Villanueva paced the Lady Tamaraws with 13 points and 10 boards, while Mary Julienne Manguiat and Maxene dela Torre managed 10 points each.